Time and Relative Dining in Space
by TimeLordPrime
Summary: There are stories told in hushed whispers throughout the universe of a mysterious traveler in time and space who always appears to shine a light in its darkest hours. Nothing is known for sure about them except that they seem to be constantly on the run from something in their past. She's probably not the time traveler you were expecting however. Her name is Clara Oswald.
1. An Impossible Waitress

TIME AND RELATIVE DINING IN SPACE: THE CONTINUING STORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE GIRL

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

CHAPTER 1

AN IMPOSSIBLE WAITRESS

 **Somewhere in the middle of the English countryside, 1989**

"Hello? Excuse me? Is anyone here?" The strange little man with the question mark sweater asked as he entered what seemed to be a completely deserted diner.

When no one appeared to answer him even after several attempts to gain their attention, he immediately began to look around him with undisguised concern.

"Hmm. Yes, this is strange. Very strange indeed and more than a bit disturbing. Perhaps there actually is something to that story about the strange disappearances in this area after all," The Doctor said to himself in a low voice.

"What is, Professor? The fact that whoever's working here seems to have taken an exceptionally long coffee break? I wouldn't call it strange. I'd call it being a no good layabout. It's definitely disturbing though. We've been standing here for almost five minutes, and I'm still just as hungry as I was when I first walked in," Ace, a young girl wearing a leather jacket covered with a multitude of badges of all shapes and sizes, said in an annoyed voice.

The Doctor frowned as he said, "Lack of food is having its usual effect on you I see. You're so consumed with hunger that you've failed to notice that something is very off about this place. This diner doesn't seem to have a single piece of stray food lying about anywhere or so much as a single speck of dirt for that matter anywhere in sight. It's practically sterile in fact. I also don't smell any traces of food being cooked anywhere nearby. It's almost as if this place hasn't had a single customer today and yet it's the middle of the afternoon."

"Well, if whoever's in charge here is spending all day sleeping in the back then there's your great mystery solved, Professor. Not everything has to do with aliens you know? Okay, that's it! I'm going to try this one more time and then I'm definitely going to break out the Nitro-9. Let's see them sleep through that," Ace said in a furious voice.

Then she promptly proceeded to scream out at the top of her lungs, "Oi! We'd like some service out here if it's not too much to ask!"

"Thank you, Ace. I'm sure if there actually are any aliens here, that you've just alerted every single one of them to our presence by now," The Doctor said with a look that was somewhere between being annoyed and amused.

"I'm telling you. It's not aliens, Professor," Ace protested.

"No, it's just a missing in action waitress I'm afraid. I like the alien bit though. Maybe I could blame not being here on being abducted, eh? No, no one would ever believe that I'm sure. Sorry about that. I was in the back trying to deal with a particularly stubborn soufflé that just refused to come out of the oven right. It's a shame really. A freshly baked chocolate soufflé is usually our house special but not right now unfortunately. Both of you would have absolutely loved it I bet. Everyone always raves about it," A beautiful brunette with large brown eyes in a blue waitress' uniform said with an apologetic look as she quickly emerged from a backroom.

It took every bit of Clara Oswald's self-control not to run to him and hug him tightly right on the spot. He wasn't her Doctor and yet he was undeniably the same man in so many ways right down to the Scottish accent even if it did sound different from the brogue of her favorite daft old man.

"Right now I'd just love to have anything after waiting for so long. I'd like to have some fish and chips the most though if you think you're actually up to it. You'd better have them back here a whole lot sooner than five minutes too or I'll make a falling soufflé the least of your worries," Ace threatened.

An amused if slightly scared Clara immediately held up her hands in surrender as she said, "Whoa there, Leather Girl! There's no need to get violent. Luckily for you it just so happens that I already have some freshly made fish and chips waiting for you in the kitchen."

Then she quickly added to herself, "Luckily for me too."

True to her word Clara immediately returned a moment later with some freshly made fish and chips and gave them to an obviously starving Ace who eagerly began to devour them whole.

Clara instantly gave the Doctor a warm smile and laughed as she said, "Good thing I moved quickly or I might have lost a finger. I assume you're going to be paying for that then."

The Doctor nodded as he pulled out a small bag full of money and said, "Yes, of course."

He quickly rummaged through the vast collection of coins and various other odd looking items that Clara assumed must be some kind of money somewhere and then finally said more to himself than to her, "I'm not quite sure if I have the proper coinage or not. I think I spent my last coins from this time period back in 1963 actually."

Ace immediately swallowed down her last gulp of food and quickly said, "That didn't quite come out right. What the Professor actually means is . . ."

"Let me guess. You're both travelers, right? You constantly go to many different places too apparently judging from that really weird coin collection that you've got there. That's why you don't have any money for this country, correct? That's alright. Don't worry about it. If you don't have it, you don't have it. It's on the house," Clara said as she quickly gave the Doctor a way out.

"What?" Ace said in a surprised voice.

"That's really not necessary. Some of these coins are made out of pure gold and are quite old. I'm sure you'll have no problem getting your money's worth out of them," The Doctor insisted as he gave her a small fortune in what looked to her to be freshly minted Ancient Roman coins.

"Do you have any idea how much these are probably worth . . . especially in this condition? No, I'm afraid that I just can't take this, Question Mark Man. Like I said, it's on the house to make it up to you for taking so long to come out here earlier. You don't tell my boss about that and I'll give you free food. Sound good?" Clara asked with a grin.

"It definitely sounds good to me. This tastes so good that I could forgive you for almost anything right now. I haven't had a good meal in . . . I'm not sure when actually," Ace admitted as she immediately became much nicer towards her.

"You have plenty of meals. The TA . . . My ship has a fully functioning kitchen onboard," The Doctor protested.

Nice save there, Old Man. Clara thought to herself.

"Yeah, but neither one of us can boil water much less cook and don't even get me started on that naff food dispenser of yours. It can't come up with anything even remotely as good as this. It all tastes like cardboard. Actually I'm sure cardboard probably tastes much better to be honest," Ace said with a deep frown.

Clara now looked at her with eyes filled with joy as she said, "You've just made my day, Badge Girl. Not everyone is as complimentary of my cooking skills as you are believe it or not. Now I wish I did have one of those soufflés ready for you. I'd love to see what you think about them."

"Anyone who thinks you can't cook must be absolutely mad," Ace said as she gave her a pleased smile.

"Or perhaps they're simply much more used to having a freshly made meal," The Doctor said in an undeniably guilty tone.

"It's a duty of care isn't it?" Clara asked with a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor asked with a surprised expression.

It was almost as if the waitress somehow knew exactly what he was thinking. He had just thought of how he wasn't taking as good a care of Ace as he probably should.

How could she possibly know that though? She seemed completely human and yet something about her eyes seemed so . . . impossibly ancient especially for someone who looked so young. Who was this woman?

"Taking care of the people who travel with you I mean. I'm sure it must feel like a duty of care to you to make sure that they're safe and happy," Clara said as those impossibly old eyes of her seemed to bore right into the Doctor's very soul.

It was almost as if she could see right to the very core of him.

If it wasn't for what he could instinctively tell was a genuinely warm smile, the Doctor would have been almost convinced that he had just found the source of the strange disturbances in this area at that moment. The waitress didn't seem to be giving off a malevolent vibe in the slightest however. In fact, he actually found himself trusting her completely which was something that usually only happened with his closest friends.

And yet this woman was almost like one of those friends somehow oddly enough. She seemed almost familiar to him as if he had seen her somewhere before. He couldn't quite place her face however.

"I'm sorry. Did I get a bit too personal there? It's all none of my business of course so just pay no mind to me," Clara said with an apologetic look.

"No, it's quite alright. You were only saying out loud what I was already thinking," The Doctor said as he quickly gave her a reassuring smile.

Clara evidently took that as a sign to continue her friendly interrogation of him because she immediately said, "So what's with the question mark motif anyway? You've got them all over your sweater and on the handle of your umbrella. Are you trying to create a sense of mystery or something? Don't tell me. You're some kind of weird magic act, right? You're the magician and she's your assistant, yeah?"

"Yes, something like that," The Doctor said with an amused look on his face.

"Well, that explains the traveling bit then. So what name do you go by? I heard her call you Professor earlier. Is that your stage name then? Professor Who?" Clara asked with a chuckle.

The Doctor gave her a mysterious smile as he said, "It's Doctor actually."

"Doctor Who?" Clara asked as her own smile began to fill her entire face now.

It felt so good to tease him like this again even if he didn't know why she was doing it.

"Just The Doctor," The Doctor said with a small laugh.

Clara smirked as she said, "That's not a name. That's a profession. You really should consider adding something to that. Maybe you could call yourself Doctor Funkenstein or something. Yeah, that's it. Doctor Basil Funkenstein. It makes you sound all rock and roll like."

She knew she was taking a bit of a risk of altering the future by saying that name in front of him, but at that moment she was having far too much fun to care. Besides who was to say that he didn't hear it first from her anyway and still remembered it all of those centuries later when he called himself that as a joke?

Ace began to laugh now as she said, "It makes him sound completely out of touch to me like he's still trying to be cool way past his prime but doesn't quite know how to anymore. You know maybe you're right. Come to think of it that does kind of sound perfectly accurate doesn't it?"

"It does," Clara agreed with a chuckle.

It felt so wonderful to laugh with her whole heart once more. She hadn't done that in so very long now. Not since her heart stopped beating in fact and that was in more ways than one the day that she was forced to tell the Doctor good bye.

The Doctor sighed while he quickly changed the subject as he said, "I never got your name by the way."

Clara actually winked at him as she said, "Nice way of changing the topic there. Alright. I can take a hint. I didn't mean anything by it anyway. I was just teasing you. Anyway it's only fair that I tell you my name since you've told me yours. It's Elizabeth. Elizabeth Bennet."

"Really? Like the character in Pride and Prejudice?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, exactly. My mother loved that book and used to always read it to me growing up. So you like Jane Austen too, eh? I love her myself. In fact, I'm sure if I ever met her in person I'd probably end up proposing to her, and then she'd politely turn me down because of my lifestyle. I'm a bit of a traveler myself you see. I never settle down in one place for too long. That's all hypothetically speaking of course since obviously that's never going to actually happen," Clara said with a mischievous smile.

"No, of course not," Ace said as she gave the waitress a look that the Doctor knew meant that she thought that she was completely mental.

Was she though? Or was there a bit of mystery to her as well?

The Doctor found himself wondering yet again who she was as he stared deeply into her eyes searching for an answer. Ace meanwhile was staring at him with her mouth hanging open in stunned surprise.

Not once in all of the time that she had known him had the Doctor ever showed any kind of romantic interest in anyone and yet there it was just as plain as day written all over his face. He seemed to actually fancy their waitress of all people. It was love at first sight she supposed.

Good for you, Professor. Ace thought to herself with approval since she found that she quite liked the waitress despite her madness, and she was definitely a huge fan of the effect that she seemed to have on the otherwise unflappable seemingly untouchable Time Lord. It showed that he wasn't quite as invincible as he had always seemed to be after all.

"Is there something that you wanted to ask me, Mr. Question Mark? Trying to gather up the courage to ask me out on a date maybe?" Clara asked with a chuckle.

She was so enjoying putting him on the spot like this. It was just like old times once more.

The Doctor immediately looked embarrassed as he said, "I'm so sorry. It was never my intention to stare at you. It's just that . . . Have we met somewhere before?"

"If that was a pick up line, it's a terrible one, Professor," Ace said as she rolled her eyes at him.

And yet to the Doctor's surprise, it seemed to have an instant if unexpected effect on the mysterious waitress as he suddenly saw a combination of unbridled joy, immense sadness, and unimaginable sorrow being reflected all at once in her eyes. Somehow that dazzling smile she wore had never once left her face the entire time however.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked with concern.

"I'm fine. Your friend's right though. That's not much of a pick up line. I'm afraid you're going to have to do a lot better than that," Clara said as she struggled to maintain her happy façade.

Suddenly this whole situation wasn't quite so amusing anymore. It was only in that moment that she fully realized just how very much that she had really missed him for all of these long, long years without him. So very much.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry if I've offended or upset you in some way. That was never my intention," The Doctor said in an earnest tone.

Clara instantly shook her head as she said, "No, it was nothing that you did. Don't worry about it, okay? So I remind you of someone that you knew then? Who was she?"

The Doctor had a faraway look in his eyes as he said, "I'm not certain. It's just that you seem so familiar to me somehow even though I'd swear that I've never seen you before. It was almost as if . . . I saw you in a dream once."

"Oh, that's really bad, Professor. You can definitely do better than that," Ace said with a giggle.

"It's not a pick up line, Ace," The Doctor protested as his face turned completely red with embarrassment now.

"Oh, I really love seeing the high and mighty Cosmic Chess Master suddenly reduced to a regular bloke once he gets around a pretty girl. This is priceless," Ace whispered to him with a huge smile.

"It's not like that," The Doctor protested.

"Not like what, Magic Man?" Clara couldn't resist asking as she pretended to act as if she had no idea what the two of them had just been talking about.

The Doctor somehow retained his composure and changed the subject once more as a sudden serious look came over his face and he said, "Nothing. My friend and I have been hearing a lot of whispered conversations about a number of mysterious disappearances that have been happening in this area lately ever since we came here. Would you happen to know anything more about them?"

"We're just curious. We'd like to know if this is a safe area to perform a show in or should we just move on to someplace a little less risky?" Ace quickly added.

"Nope, I don't know a thing about them I'm afraid. I only just moved here and this is my first day on the job. I guess that should tell you a little more about why I took so long to come out earlier, huh? Still got the first day jitters I'm afraid. Sorry," Clara said as she deflected the question.

The Doctor didn't quite seem to believe her judging from the look in his eyes but he nodded and smiled politely at her anyway as he said, "That's quite alright, Elizabeth. I suppose we'll leave in a moment then as soon as my young friend here has successfully finished wolfing down the last of her food."

"Oi! I'm not wolfing it down," Ace protested as she gave him a dirty look.

"I've seen rabid Thraskins eating much more slowly," The Doctor said with a brief grin.

"You know it's probably a good thing for you that I don't know what a Thraskin is or I might just forget that we're friends, Professor," Ace threatened him with a slight smile.

Clara had to struggle not to laugh out loud at that. She knew exactly what a Thraskin was after all. She had met several of them once on a trip to Venus and knew exactly how hungry that they could be when they rapidly devoured an entire bowl full of fruit almost as soon as they saw it. She still remembered being half afraid that one of them would start trying to eat her next until the Doctor assured her that they were completely harmless herbivores.

Good times. She thought to herself with a wistful smile.

"Do you have to go so soon? It's not like we have any other customers in here at the moment. In fact, to be honest you're the first people that I've seen all day. It's almost as if no one else can see this place or something. Just stay a little bit longer, okay? You don't want me to get bored do you?" Clara found herself saying to her own surprise.

"No. I'm afraid that we can't stay for much longer. We have a show in just a few hours that we need to prepare for and very little time in which to do it in. Perhaps we can come by tomorrow and pay you another visit however. Will you be working on the same schedule?" The Doctor asked in an almost hopeful tone as Ace gave him a clear signal behind Clara's back to get her phone number that he readily ignored.

"I might be. I'm not sure yet. Why don't you just pop on by tomorrow and we'll both find out together?" Clara asked with a smile that was both sad and happy at the same time.

"I may just do that. Are you ready to go, Ace?" The Doctor asked.

"If you are I suppose. If you're not though, then I can always order another plate of fish and chips," Ace suggested with a knowing smile.

"No, I really think that we should be going. Good bye, Elizabeth," The Doctor said as he took Ace by the hand and quickly led her out the diner's front door.

"Good bye, you daft old man . . . and good luck with whatever you find there," Clara said in a sad voice after he left as her eyes threatened to fill with tears.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you realize just how dangerous that that was? You could have just altered your own timestream by pulling a stunt like that with a past version of the Doctor," Ashildr said in a furious voice as she suddenly emerged from the TARDIS' Console Room.

"Well, I'm still here so obviously I didn't, Ashy," Clara said in a cheerful voice as she refused to turn and look at her because she didn't want her to see the fresh tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"And . . . Elizabeth Bennet? Really? What would your beloved Jane Austen think?" Ashildr asked with a smile that Clara could clearly hear in her voice even if she couldn't see it on her face at that moment.

"Oh, she doesn't mind. She told me so herself once," Clara said dismissively.

Ashildr suddenly turned completely serious as she said, "Clara, I thought that you had moved on and stopped missing him by now. I mean you haven't traveled with him for centuries. I'm surprised that you can still remember him at all to be honest. I had already forgotten most of my early life by this point in my own life."

"Why shouldn't I remember him? You still did," Clara shot back as she willed herself not to cry and continued to fail miserably as the tears silently ran down her face unseen by Ashildr at that moment.

"Well, it's kind of hard to forget the man who changed your life forever isn't it?" Ashildr responded.

"Exactly. Besides unlike you I still remember everything as if it were yesterday. I'm not sure how that works for me and not for you but I got my wish somehow. I kept my memories no matter what and they're all still there no matter how much time passes. Sometimes I wish I hadn't though when . . ." Clara said before she had to stop as her voice started to crack.

"Oh, Clara, I . . . I'm sorry. I've almost forgotten how much it hurts to lose someone. Maybe I just wanted to forget," Ashildr said as her formerly hard voice suddenly turned soft and she put a comforting arm around her.

"I just wanted to see him again one more time even if he isn't one of the ones that I spent any quality time around. They're all the same man, Ashy, so it really doesn't matter which one it is does it? I didn't fully understand that once but now I do. They're all my Doctor," Clara said in a faraway voice.

Ashildr now finally saw her tears for the first time and started to quietly wipe them away from her face as she said in a sympathetic voice, "What brought this on all of a sudden? You haven't even so much as talked about him in the longest time, and now suddenly I find him right here at our very doorstep. You had this all planned out too so it wasn't just a chance meeting. That freshly made plate of fish and chips told me that. You've been watching over him and that girl haven't you? How long has this been going on?"

"I've been following them for a couple of weeks now. I took the TARDIS out to find him whenever you were asleep so that you wouldn't question me about it. That's how I knew what Ace liked to eat. I made sure that they never saw me though. I just . . . I just wanted to see some version of him again. Then that led to actually wanting to speak to him. I know that I shouldn't have but I just miss him, Ashy. I miss him so much. I can fool myself into thinking that I don't for a little while but I could never do it forever," Clara admitted in an emotional voice.

"I really am sorry. If I could change all of that for you and let you travel with him again you know that I would. You already know just how badly that would turn out though. He truly was willing to do anything for you and that wasn't good for either of you. That's how much he loved you though. Now that I've come to know you, I can see exactly why he felt that way," Ashildr said with a soft smile.

"Don't tell me that you're going to threaten to destroy the universe over me too now are you?" Clara said as she tried to make a joke.

Ashildr immediately shook her head and said with a completely serious look, "I said that I liked you not that I was completely mad."

"You always know just what to say to cheer me up, Ashy. You couldn't have threatened to destroy the entire space-time continuum over me at least once? Would that really have been too much to ask?" Clara said with a half-hearted smile that instantly broke Ashildr's heart.

"Well, since it's you I suppose I might go temporarily insane at least once in order to save you. Possibly," Ashildr said with a wicked smile as she hugged her tightly.

"There. Now that's more like it, Viking Girl," Clara said as she eagerly returned her hug.

"To be honest, I really can't imagine my life without you now. You . . . You've brought out a humanity in me that I didn't even know was there anymore. I've actually found myself truly caring about life again for the first time in billions of years. What I'd like to know is how you do it. How have you held onto who you for so long without changing in some way? You're still exactly the same person that you were when I first met you. At least I think you are anyway. It's so hard to remember," Ashildr admitted.

"I must have made quite an impression on you then," Clara said as she genuinely laughed.

"You did actually. Let's just say that the Doctor isn't the only one that I could still remember after hundreds of years," Ashildr admitted.

Clara smiled at her and kissed her cheek as she said, "You must like me just a little bit then I guess."

"Just a bit," Ashildr said with a soft smile.

Then she turned serious once again as she said, "Clara, you know you can't ever see him again. I'm sorry but that's how it has to be. You're lucky that you haven't seriously tampered with your own past after what you did here today. I really wouldn't push it if I were you."

"Yeah, you're right. I know that. That's it for me anyway, Ashy. It just hurts too much to see him . . . especially when he doesn't know me. That's what hurts the most I think," Clara admitted.

"That's funny because it seemed like he did remember something to me, and this one hadn't even officially met you yet. I'm sure some small part of him remembers each and every time one of your echoes saved him plus that time that you visited him as a child. He remembers, Clara. Some part of him always will. No one could ever forget you completely. Trust me on that," Ashildr reassured her.

"I'd like to think so," Clara said with a brief smile.

"I know so," Ashildr said in a soothing voice.

Clara immediately started to put on her best chipper attitude then as she said, "So where to next, Ashy? Should we travel to the future, the past, or go visit that Pete's World that I've heard so much about from Jack Harkness. I'd really like to see if this Rose Tyler lives up to all of the hype or not."

"Checking out the competition are you?" Ashildr asked with a chuckle.

"Something like that. Besides it might be nice to see a version of old Sand Shoes once again," Clara said as she started towards the Console Room.

"Clara," Ashildr said in a disapproving tone.

"What? It's not like visiting the Metacrisis is going to alter my timestream is it? That version of the Doctor has nothing whatsoever to do with me. I can't exactly quit cold turkey can I?" Clara said with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

Ashildr shook her head as she followed her into the Console Room while she said, "Somehow I get the feeling that this is going to be a lifelong addiction. I get the feeling that I'm still going to be trying to keep you from seeing him a billion years from now. I'll probably still be failing just as miserably at it too."

"You could be right, Ashy. You never can tell. Still want to travel with me?" Clara asked with a wicked smile.

"I wouldn't miss a single moment of it," Ashildr said with an eager smile as she rushed towards the console and anxiously waited for Clara to join her there.

"So I guess you really do like me, huh?" Clara said with a snicker as she quickly joined her and began to enter coordinates into the console.

The diner was then gone just as quickly and silently as it had arrived. Clara was right after all it seemed. She never did get a visit from another customer that day.

It seemed as if that was finally the end of that entire episode as far as Ashildr could tell. She really should have known better though.

Suddenly the TARDIS landed right in the middle of what looked like an enormous underground cavern judging from what the monitor was showing them. It seemed to go on for miles and miles without ending and could easily have been filled by several more diners the same size as their own.

"Clara, why would you land us in a place like this?" Ashildr asked in confusion.

Then she suddenly got her answer as Ace's voice screamed from somewhere just out of their view, "Professor!"

"Ace, get out of here while you still can!" The Doctor shouted in what sounded like the voice of a man who knew that he was shortly about to die soon.

"No way! Do you hear me? There's no way that that's ever going to happen!" Ace screamed defiantly.

Neither Clara nor Ashildr could see what was going on, but whatever it was definitely didn't sound good.

"You just couldn't stay away could you? I actually believed you were over him," Ashildr said in a disappointed voice.

"I had to make sure that it all turned out okay. They were here to investigate several strange disappearances throughout a wide area. That didn't exactly inspire me with confidence that they might survive it without help especially when I did my research and discovered that most of the disappearances centered around an old abandoned cave. It didn't take a genius to figure out that was most likely where the Old Man was going. It was less than a mile from where I parked the diner.

"You planned this too," Ashildr said with a sigh.

"I had to make sure that he'd be alright. Besides how do I know I wasn't supposed to save him this time too? I'm sorry, Ashy, but it's just too deeply ingrained in me. I always have to save the Doctor no matter what the cost," Clara said in a determined voice as she started to move towards the diner's front door.

"Then it looks like it's up to me to make sure that the cost isn't too high this time. I had to stand by and watch you die once, Clara. I won't ever do that again," Ashildr said in a stubborn tone as she followed her.

"I'm immortal now, remember? My death is a fixed point and can't be changed," Clara reassured her.

"Even a fixed point can be changed by a being with enough power, Clara. That's exactly what I'm worried about in fact. Can't you feel it? There's incredible power here. Clara, I really think . . ." Ashildr warned.

Clara completely ignored her however as she rushed outside the TARDIS without a single moment of hesitation.

"Why do I even bother? She wouldn't care even if she did think she was going to die as long as there was the slightest chance of saving him one last time," Ashildr said to herself with a frown as she immediately followed her outside.

What the two women found there was like a scene out of one of Clara's darkest nightmares.

She saw the Doctor on his knees inside of an enormous glowing cloud of energy that seemed to be draining the very life out of him. Meanwhile Ace was rushing straight towards the vampiric cloud with an aerosol can that was filled with her homemade explosive, Nitro-9.

"Ace, no!" The Doctor shouted in a steadily weakening voice.

The girl completely ignored him however and continued to rush at the cloud with no concern whatsoever. She too instantly hit her knees and began to cry out in agony as soon as she entered it however.

"No, let her go! Let her go and take me instead!" The Doctor shouted in a hoarse voice.

"I will drain everyone on this world sooner or later, Time Lord, once my life force strengthens enough to allow me to leave this area without fear of being killed by the humans' weapons. Therefore it will make no difference if she dies now or later along with the rest of her kind. She's just as dead either way. You should be honored. The incredible energy of your regenerative cycle should be exactly what I need to finally allow me to roam free and without fear upon the surface of this world at last instead of having to steal people away in the middle of the night. Soon thanks to you, Doctor, I will finally be free at last!" An eerie voice said in a booming voice that echoed throughout the vast chamber.

"Don't bet on it, Energy Boy. You'll have to go through me first and believe me. That's never going to happen," Clara said in a loud voice in order to gain the strange being's attention.

"Elizabeth, run!" The Doctor shouted in a voice that sounded like it had nearly been completely drained of life now.

In the blink of an eye, Clara suddenly found herself inside of the deadly being as it rushed forward and expanded to cover her. Clara instantly braced herself for the same incredible pain that the Doctor and Ace were currently experiencing to start shooting through her own body.

It never came however.

She immediately smiled as soon as she understood why as she said, "You can't take my life force away can you?"

Clara was already dead except for that one last moment in her life so there was nothing left to drain. Luckily that so confused the vampiric being that it completely focused all of its attention on her and ignored Ashildr for the time being. That was a good thing because draining her of her energy would have been more than enough to set it free.

Clara could only hope that she could continue to keep it so distracted and that Ashy would have the good sense to get as far away from it as possible in the meantime. She could handle this herself after all especially now that she had the thing so off kilter.

"This is impossible. I've never come across anyone that I haven't been able to drain before. Who are you?" The sinister being demanded in a furious voice.

Clara smiled from ear to ear as she said, "Funny you should ask that, Glow Boy. I see you were completely taken in by my double over there. That's exactly why I sent him in here for though so that I could take you by surprise after fooling you into thinking that he was me."

The Doctor now looked at her with just as much confusion as the creature itself obviously felt at that moment as it said, "What?"

"Don't you get it by now? I suppose I have to spell it all out for you then, don't I? Fine. I'll do that if it'll finally let you know exactly how much trouble that you're really in. That man over there is an imposter who's working for me. He was never the one that you had to worry about though. That was always me," Clara said with a smirk.

"Who are you?" The vampiric being demanded once more in what was now an undeniably worried tone that would have made Clara's heart instantly soar if it was still functioning.

"I'm the Doctor," Clara said proudly as she stood against him with a defiant pose

"Here we go," Ashildr said with a deep sigh while the Doctor watched Clara in stunned disbelief.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Ace said with a groan.

 **Next: Clara and Ashildr now stand alone against the threat of the deadly energy cloud for the fate of the world while the Doctor and Ace's lives hang in the balance. Can they possibly find a way to beat the strange creature before it discovers the near limitless power that it can gain by draining the immortal Ashildr of her life force? What is this evil entity's story anyway and how did it get on Earth? Will this be the day that Clara's luck finally runs out at last or will it turn out to be her brightest hour?**


	2. The Once and Future Impossible Girl

CHAPTER 2

THE ONCE AND FUTURE IMPOSSIBLE GIRL

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you so much for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews! I really appreciate them.

 **Author's Note: Part of what Clara says in the first paragraph of this chapter is based on a suggestion that I was given by romanov979. I thought it was perfect so I decided to include it and give credit where it's due.**

"What's the matter? Don't you like this look? I changed it because my last incarnation was all cranky and bad tempered and I looked like an enormous stick insect. This one is a huge improvement if you ask me even if it does have a bit of a height issue. So what's with the aura of disbelief, eh? Don't tell me that it's because I'm a girl this time. If there's anything that I hate worse than a genocidal vampire energy cloud from space it's a sexist vampire energy cloud. Don't let the pretty face and the incredible cooking skills fool you though, Vampire Boy. There's far more to me than that. I think you're about to find that I'm just as full of surprises as I ever was," Clara said with a defiant smirk.

"You? The Doctor?" The energy cloud asked Clara in a skeptical tone.

Her plan was already working. Vampire Boy didn't quite believe her but he wasn't sure just yet. That meant that he was focusing all of his attention on her and away from Ashildr. Clara immediately felt a sense of relief as she saw her friend slowly moving out of his line of sight and heading straight back towards their TARDIS.

That was all that they needed was to have him start chowing down on her unlimited life force.

"Come off it, Elizabeth. He's not falling for it and neither am I. You're not the Doctor. I should know. I've been traveling with him for years now. I'd know him anywhere no matter how much he changed. You're nowhere near crazy or intense enough to be a proper Professor," Ace protested even as she secretly felt grateful to Clara for distracting the cloud enough that it had stopped draining her and the Doctor's life forces as quickly as it had been earlier.

"Stick around me long enough and you might just change your opinion about that, Leather Girl. Tell me though. If I'm not the Doctor, then how do I know that you come from a town called Perivale and that your real name is Dorothy?" Clara said with a triumphant smile which caused the Doctor to look at her with what Clara could tell was growing suspicion.

She could already see that he was beginning to put two and two together about her. As brilliant as he was, he might actually figure out who she was and that was when things could start to get very, very dangerous for her.

She knew that when she came here though. Even the possibility of non-existence was better than risking even the most remote chance of the Doctor dying though.

"Alright who are you? Have you been following us? You're not one of those crazy LINDA nut jobs are you? I really hate that lot. You fans of the Doctor are even weirder than he is," Ace said in a furious voice.

The energy cloud had quite a different reaction however as its laughter reverberated through the cave while it said, "The girl is right. You are not the Doctor. I finally recognize you at last now though. The deep sadness and sense of despair around you is almost palpable despite your best attempts to hide it. They actually confused me for a brief while because you were quite different the last time that we met. You were so filled with a sense of jubilation then that you're barely recognizable as the same person. It is you though. You are the one who did this to me! You sentenced me to this living nightmare of having to subsist off of the life forces of lesser beings in order to regain the glory that was once mine."

"Sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what you're going on about, Energy Boy. I think I'd remember having met something like you before," Clara said in a dismissive tone even as a horrible thought started to occur to her.

Maybe she had become far too much like the Doctor for her own good, and she was meeting this thing out of order. It could be that her first meeting with it hadn't even happened for her yet which meant that she was responsible for all of this.

The guilt of that possibility already rested heavily on her shoulders as the creature said in a confused voice, "Why do you continue to act as if you don't know me when you are the one who scattered my molecules amongst the stars and came close to completely dispersing me forever?"

"That's because it obviously hasn't happened for her yet just as meeting her properly hasn't yet happened for me. It's a common problem for time travelers. We often do things in the wrong order," The Doctor said with that triumphant smile of his that he always had when he had finally worked something out.

"In other words, it's all wibbly wobbly timey wimey, right?" Clara couldn't resist saying.

"Wibbly what?" The Doctor asked with a puzzled look.

"Never mind," Clara said with a chuckle.

Ace meanwhile looked at Clara thoughtfully now as she asked the Doctor, "You mean that she travels with you in the future, right? That's how she knows so much. You must have told her about me."

"Yes, apparently so," The Doctor said as he gave Clara a questioning look.

She knew right away what he was thinking of course just as she always did. He was wondering why he would tell this particular traveling companion so much about his past when he rarely spoke of it with anyone else.

Clara's only response was a brief enigmatic smile. She was already in enough trouble today. There was no use to add more fuel to the fire was there? Besides she always loved making him sweat a little.

Ace was immediately intrigued by this idea as she asked Clara, "Is that why you were flirting with him back in the diner earlier? Are you and him . . . ?"

"Enough! I've already lost far too much time because of her already. I will not lose a single moment longer. Now you will all die so that I might live again!" The energy cloud shouted as it suddenly interrupted her.

"Yeah, that's going to be easier said than done though with me, Energy Boy. You still can't touch me, remember?" Clara said defiantly.

"And you'll never be able to either. Unless I'm very much mistaken, it's nearly impossible for her to die here today," The Doctor said as he looked at Clara curiously.

"We will soon see about that," The energy cloud said defiantly as it attacked Clara once more and refused to stop.

"You can sense it now can't you?" Clara asked the Doctor as she smiled at her enemy's obvious frustration.

"Yes, I thought something was off about you from the very beginning, but I wasn't certain since I've never been around someone that's been pulled out of their own timestream before. Are you an agent of the Time Lords? Is that why you have a TARDIS?" The Doctor asked as he pointedly ignored the angry frustrated hiss of the energy cloud while it failed yet again to drain Clara of her life force for what had to have been at least the tenth time.

"Spoilers! Shame on you for even asking, Old Man. You know I can't tell you that. I knew you'd figure it all out sooner or later though," Clara said proudly as she anxiously watched Ashildr out of the corner of her eye.

She was almost back inside their TARDIS now. As soon as she was, she was going to set the rest of her plan into motion. Until then though, she wasn't taking any chances. She was going to continue to make herself the center of attention so that no one noticed Ashildr.

"Wait a minute. So that diner that we were in was a TARDIS? They really do come in all shapes and sizes, don't they? I think I prefer the police box though personally," Ace said in an intrigued voice as she slowly began to move something out of her jacket.

"Want to know a secret? So do I," Clara said with a smile as she instantly realized what Ace was about to do.

"One way or another I will find a way to kill you. I won't leave this cavern until I know that you're dead," The energy cloud said to Clara in a furious voice as it continuously failed to drain the life from her.

"Oh, you're definitely going to be leaving alright, mate. In pieces," Ace said as she suddenly threw two cans of Nitro-9 straight into the middle of the swirling cloud into what she desperately hoped was something vital.

Then to her horror, she saw the Nitro-9 suddenly reversing course in mid-air and heading straight back towards her! The alien was just about to use her own explosives against her.

"That's cheating," Ace protested as she desperately started to run despite knowing that she'd never make it out of range of the blast in time.

Then to her complete shock, she saw Clara actually running towards the falling canisters of explosives.

"I always hate this part," Clara said with a frown as she dived right on top of the two Nitro-9 bottles just before they hit the ground.

They instantly went off in her face and Ace screamed as she watched Clara disappear amid the fiery explosion that quickly followed. She was immediately thrown to the ground by the force of it but was otherwise unharmed. Clara had taken most of the effect of the blast herself it seemed.

Ace's normally tough demeanor was instantly gone as she said to the Doctor in a mournful tone, "Oh, Professor, I'm so sorry."

"You should be. I'm going to be feeling that for weeks now plus it completely ruined my outfit. Good thing I buy those uniforms in bulk," Clara said in an annoyed voice as she suddenly walked completely unharmed (other than the fact that her waitress uniform was in tatters) through the dust cloud that had been created by the explosion.

"Wicked," Ace said in a completely astonished voice as she watched her through eyes widened in disbelief.

"Your body can't be destroyed in any way can it?" The Doctor asked Clara with a sympathetic look.

"No, but that definitely doesn't stop it from hurting just as much as if it had actually happened though," Clara said with a wince.

"Now do you finally understand? You can't kill her because unless I'm very much mistaken her death has already happened. It's a fixed point in time which cannot be altered no matter how hard you try," The Doctor said to the creature.

"It appears that we have found ourselves in a stalemate then. Neither of us seems to be able to get rid of the other despite our best efforts," The energy cloud said to Clara in an almost resigned tone.

"Well, you're half right, Vampire Boy," Clara said with a triumphant smile as she saw Ashildr finally entering the TARDIS at last.

In the very next instant, the vampiric cloud began to scream in agony just before it began rapidly dissolving all around them. Apparently the Doctor must have noticed Clara following Ashildr's progress the entire time because he immediately gave her a knowing smile which she instantly responded to with a conspiratorial wink.

Within a matter of moments, the parasitic being was completely gone as it gave off one last wail of despair that made Clara shiver in response. Even after all of this time she still hated to be responsible for another being's death. It always bothered her every single time no matter how many centuries had passed for her.

"Anyone care to let me in on what just happened? Or are you two too busy flirting instead?" Ace asked as she rolled her eyes at them.

"We are not flirting," The Doctor protested with an embarrassed look.

"Speak for yourself, Question Mark Man," Clara said with a chuckle.

The Doctor's face blushed even more as he quickly changed the subject while he explained to Ace, "Our friend is made out of living energy, yes? A TARDIS can feed off of many forms of energy and that's exactly what Elizabeth's TARDIS was doing just now."

Ace actually smiled as she said, "So it fed off of it just like it fed off of all of the people around here. It's kind of appropriate in a way."

"Maybe but it never quite feels right though whenever I have to resort to doing something like this in order to solve a problem. It doesn't help any when it seems like it's a problem that I may have helped cause in the first place . . . or will cause. Whatever," Clara said with a heavy heart.

"Unfortunately things like that do happen sometimes and there's nothing that can be done about it without potentially completely disrupting the entire Web of Time," The Doctor said in a soft voice as he took her hand in his.

"Yeah, well . . . I guess it shows that I'm still not quite up to your level just yet. Maybe I'll be a good Doctor in another couple of hundred years, yeah?" Clara said in a sad voice as she unconsciously wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder without thinking about it.

"Oh, I don't know. I'd say that you're a good Doctor right now," The Doctor said with a soft smile.

Clara instantly looked up at him in gratitude as she finally heard the words that her own Doctor had never quite been able to say to her. She immediately kissed him on the cheek on gratitude and laughed as his face turned so red that she found herself wondering if his head was about to explode.

"Well, I guess that finally answers my question about the two of you then," Ace said with a smug grin.

"C- Elizabeth! Something's gone wrong!" Ashildr's panicked voice suddenly said from the TARDIS' speaker as the TARDIS began to shake violently and energy poured out of it in waves.

"You were saying, Old Man," Clara said with a groan as she started to race towards the TARDIS while the entire cavern began to start coming down all around them.

"Don't! It's too dangerous!" The Doctor warned as he quickly raced ahead of her and blocked her path.

He immediately grabbed Clara's hand tightly in an attempt to prevent her from running away from him while several cracks in time began to open up all around the TARDIS and rapidly spread throughout the entire area. Clara could now see that he was right as she watched helplessly while several parts of the cave started to vanish as they were sucked into the cracks.

"I will destroy you even if I have to rip Time itself asunder!" The voice of the energy cloud said through the TARDIS' speaker.

"It's actually controlling the TARDIS. I didn't think that was possible," Ace said in disbelief.

"Certain strong wills have been known to be able to override a TARDIS' matrix on occasion, Ace. Unfortunately this time the results could be absolutely catastrophic. If this isn't stopped soon, the entire Web of Time itself could become destabilized and come crashing down all around us. It's already starting in this area. If one of those cracks touches us, we could become lost somewhere in space and time forever or worse erased from existence entirely. We have to get out of here before they completely block us off from the cave's entrance. If I can make it back to my own TARDIS, I might just be able to stop this from spreading any further," The Doctor warned.

"No, it might be too late if we wait that long, Question Mark Man. I've got to get to my TARDIS and try to stop it from there. This is my fault. Apparently I'm going to wind up being the cause of all of this someday so it's up to me to stop it," Clara protested as she suddenly violently jerked her hand away from his and began to race away from him as quickly as she could.

"No, wait!" The Doctor shouted as he watched her go with a sinking feeling of dread in his hearts.

"Don't worry so much, Professor. Obviously at least she gets out of this alright or else she couldn't have started all of this in the future in the first place, right? You also said that her death couldn't be changed so how could she possibly die here and now?" Ace said in a hopeful tone as the Doctor began to lead her towards the cave's entrance while he watched Clara disappear into the chaos surrounding her TARDIS.

"You don't yet understand the nature of Time, Ace. Nothing is ever certain no matter how immutable it might appear to be. Time is always in flux and capable of being altered at any moment by the right set of circumstances. Even a fixed point in time could potentially be changed if something truly catastrophic was to occur and the resulting paradox would only make what's happening here even worse. It could potentially wipe out everything if it's left unchecked," The Doctor said in an anxious tone as he and Ace continued to race out of the cave even while it continuously fell down all around them.

"Then we'd better hope that we get back to your TARDIS in a hurry. It makes me wish that you'd kept that silly car of yours instead of letting UNIT store it away again. It could have taken us back in no time," Ace lamented.

Then the two of them finally reached the cave entrance and raced out of it just in time before it was blocked off by a sudden rockslide. The Doctor could only look back in despair and hope that the woman he knew only as Elizabeth made it back inside of her TARDIS safely somehow because she definitely wasn't getting out any other way.

Meanwhile Clara was hoping the exact same thing as she speedily twisted and turned away from dozens of rapidly opening cracks in the fabric of reality all around her while racing towards the TARDIS. She wasn't sure what she could do to stop all of this that Ashildr, who had long ago become an expert on the TARDIS' systems, couldn't do by herself exactly, but she definitely didn't want to leave her in there all alone. All that she knew was that she needed to be there by her side no matter what came next.

Just as she was about to reach the TARDIS' doors, Ashildr opened them and said in a grim voice, "It's already too late, Clara. It's about to get much worse at any moment now. I tried to stop it but the creature was far too powerful and had already infiltrated too many of the TARDIS' systems to contain it. The TARDIS is being completely torn apart by temporal instability. I can only hope that the Doctor can contain the explosion that will probably result."

Clara looked at her sadly then as she said in a mournful voice, "This is my fault. All of it. I'm sorry, Ashildr. I'm so sorry."

Ashildr immediately wrapped her arms around her and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips as she said in a soft voice, "No, it's not. For all you know, it could have mistaken you for someone else. Even if it is true, I've had far more lifetimes than I ever should have had anyway so I have nothing to complain about. I suppose it's a form of cosmic justice if you think about it. I mean I indirectly helped kill you so now I'm finally being made to answer for it."

"Don't talk like that. I never blamed you for that and I never will. There has to be another way. There always is," Clara said in a frantic voice.

"Not always. You should know that better than anyone. Whatever happens next I've made my peace with it, Clara. I'm going to be alright," Ashildr said with a small reassuring smile as she hugged Clara tightly.

"Well, I'm not," Clara said defiantly as she pulled away from Ashildr and ran in front of the TARDIS.

"What are you doing?!" Ashildr shouted in concern as she watched Clara stand right in the middle of the worst part of the temporal disturbance with her arms eerily spread out exactly like they were when she faced the raven.

"Listen, Energy Boy, if you're still in there, I'm offering myself up to you. Stop all of this and just kill me. Leave everyone else alone. Do you hear me? I offer my life in exchange for everyone else's. Do whatever you're going to do to me but leave the rest of the universe alone. Well? What are you waiting for? Just do it!" Clara shouted as she desperately hoped that the creature's consciousness wasn't already gone by this point.

"Gladly. We die together, Clara Oswald," The disembodied voice of the energy being said in triumph.

"Clara, no!" Ashildr screamed as she stood by and watched helplessly yet again as history seemed to repeat itself right in front of her.

"Good bye, Ashildr. I love you," Clara said as she looked at her one last time with tears in her eyes just as an enormous blast of energy flowed forth from the TARDIS and hit her right in the chest.

"Die, Clara Oswald! Die!" The energy cloud's voice shrieked with joy as Clara began to dissolve into nothingness right in front of Ashildr's horrified eyes.

"Clara, I love you too," Ashildr said in a devastated voice as Clara completely disappeared as if she had never even existed.

That was when Ashildr heard the creature give out one last painful scream and then the TARDIS suddenly stopped glowing. Its shaking ceased immediately afterwards, and it was suddenly completely back to normal once more. Once the creature had finally let itself die, it was almost as if nothing had ever even happened at all. .

Only it had Ashildr thought to herself as she began to violently sob out of control for the first time in untold centuries. Her entire world had just been completely torn apart, and she wished that it had been her instead of Clara. Clara didn't deserve this any more than she had deserved to die because of the quantum shade in the future.

Then her sobs suddenly stopped as a glimmer of hope filled her heart. She could still remember Clara's death. If Clara had actually died here, then she wouldn't still be able to recall it, right? In fact, if Clara had been erased then she wouldn't be able to remember her at all.

That meant that maybe hopefully somewhere Clara was still alive. And if she was still alive, then maybe somehow someway she might still be able to find her once again.

"I will find you no matter where or when you are. I promise," Ashildr said out loud.

"I'm afraid that won't be a problem for you anymore, Lady Me. If and when Clara Oswald is found it will be by us. You however are under arrest by order of the High Council of the Time Lords for aiding and abetting a temporal fugitive to escape us for so many centuries and the potential endangering of the entire Space-Time Continuum that could have resulted from those actions," A voice said behind her.

Ashildr immediately whirled around to see an entire unit of Chancellery Guards standing behind her with their weapons drawn. At the back of them with a smug smile on his face as always stood the man who had been trying to recapture Clara for centuries now: Commander Maxil.

Ashildr immediately sighed and held up her hands in surrender even as she fervently hoped that wherever Clara was that at least her story would finally have a happy ending somehow.

Meanwhile at that very moment, Clara felt herself in more pain than she'd ever felt in her life as she felt her body being violently ripped apart somewhere in a place beyond time and space. She had absolutely no idea where she was or how long she had been there. All that she knew was that it seemed to have been an eternity without ending.

"D – Doctor!" Clara said in a pleading tone as she fervently wished that someone would help her and release her from this living nightmare that she was trapped in.

She knew that the Doctor was never going to come though. No one was.

"Despite the pain you're actually very lucky, Clara. Anyone else would already be dead by now. They would have been completely torn apart by the temporal winds and ceased to have ever been. You're a special case however aren't you? You can't die. The universe won't let you. It needs you, Clara, just as it needs the Doctor. He holds the strands of the Web together and keeps it from breaking. He alone holds back the chaos that would result if not for his presence. Who holds him together though? Who keeps him from breaking apart? Who is there for him to help save him over and over again from everything that would destroy him even himself? Who is the Doctor's Doctor? Despite what you were told, you were never supposed to have been parted from him, Clara. Ever. Why else do you think that you were made immortal? It was never done simply at the Doctor's whim. It was so that you could always be by his side," A voice that Clara didn't recognize said from all around her.

"W – Who are you? Please! Please help me!" Clara pleaded as she struggled to speak through the incredible pain rippling through every cell in her body at that moment.

"I'm so sorry, Clara. I wish I could have spared you this but I couldn't. This was supposed to happen. It was your way back home again," The voice said cryptically.

"I don't understand," Clara said in confusion.

"You will. Someday. It's almost over now. Soon you'll be freed and put back on the correct path again. I promise. Before you go though, I'd just like to thank you," The voice said.

"For what?" Clara said as she began to fade away.

"For taking care of my Doctor," A beautiful blonde woman who was glowing like the sun said as she appeared in front of her with a warm smile that filled her entire face.

Then Rose Tyler faded away right alongside her as she returned to the TARDIS on her way back to the Gamestation. She had her own path to take after all even if it would lead to her eventually being trapped on Pete's World without the Doctor that she cared for so much. Part of her at least would always know that he was still being looked after and always would be.

Clara of course had no idea that she had finally met the famous Rose Tyler that she had heard so much about. All that she knew was that suddenly she was back in a very solid and very tangible reality once more and she had never been happier in her life. She immediately kissed the ground that she found herself standing on and laughed with joy to be free from constant pain again.

"Halt! Who are you? If you have come here to attack us, then you have just made the last mistake of your life. I will gladly fight you to the death if I have to in order to keep you from entering," A woman's voice said from behind her.

Clara slowly stood up and turned around to see a woman clad in a leather outfit that made her look like she had just stepped out of the jungle holding a knife on her. She could now see that they were both standing in front of what looked like a futuristic looking base on who knew what world and this woman was obviously its protector. She would have laughed at the absurdity of it all if the woman didn't look so earnest.

"Hold on a minute. I come in peace. Understand, Jungle Girl? Peace," Clara said in a slow voice as she held her hands up in surrender.

"Why do you talk to me as if I am a mental defective? I may come from a primitive culture, but I am hardly stupid. Plus I am not the one currently wearing rags that make me look like I just stepped out of the garbage," The woman said with a smirk.

Clara looked down at herself and sighed as she said, "Yeah, it's just barely covering up the most important areas, isn't it? Listen. I'm sorry, Jungle Jill, if I've been a bit rude, but I've heard one very, very terrible day or maybe even a century or two for all that I know so you're just going to have to cut me a little bit of slack here, yeah?"

"You talk like someone from Earth. How could that be though? The Time Lords said that they had no knowledge of the Time War," The woman said in confusion.

"Time War? Oh, wonderful. That's just great. You said Daleks before, didn't you?" Clara said as her muddled mind finally began to put everything together now.

"Do not act as if you did not know, Dalek puppet. You were sent here to sabotage this base, but luckily for the Time Lords I was here to stop you. I am Leela of the Sevateem, and I will gladly die to protect my husband's people," Leela said with fierce determination.

"Leela? I know you, don't I? Didn't you used to travel with the Doctor?" Clara asked as she rapidly searched her memory.

"She did and now she does once again. Only I'm not the Doctor anymore, Elizabeth Bennet or whoever you really are," A voice that Clara recognized from long ago said from somewhere nearby.

Clara immediately began to smile and that smile only intensified as she saw the familiar figure of the War Doctor standing there watching her with eyes filled with joy. He definitely seemed very happy to see her again.

"Bet you thought I was dead didn't you, Old Man? Can't get rid of me that easily though," Clara said as she began to run towards him.

"Doctor, look out!" Leela shouted as she completely misinterpreted Clara's actions and started to shoot a deadly Janis thorn into her back.

"No, she's a friend, Leela. Besides it wouldn't do you any good anyway. She seems to be impossible to kill," The War Doctor said as he looked at Clara with a fond smile.

"Love the wording there. Seems appropriate somehow," Clara said as she hugged him tightly causing him to actually smile to Leela's complete surprise.

Leela hadn't seen this particular Doctor smile once since she had known him which was a marked contrast to the version of him that she had known before. This told her right away that this woman must be someone very important to him so she immediately put her Janis thorn away . . . for the moment anyway.

"Does it? In what way?" The War Doctor asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter. You'll find that out soon enough. You're going to have to erase your memory of me for right now though, or you're going to completely mess my future up. You can wait and do that after you send me back to that cave in 1989 though. A – My friend must be really worried about me," Clara said in an anxious voice.

"Elizabeth, I'm afraid that I can't do that anytime soon. I'm needed here on Elta VII. If this planet falls to the Daleks, then half of the Isop Galaxy will be left wide open to their entire invasion fleet. The shield generator here is the only thing holding them back by creating a protective field that's so far been keeping them from advancing any further. That could fall at any time though if they keep sending their assault teams in here to bring it down," The War Doctor said in a worried voice.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm here then isn't it? Like you said, I'm impossible to kill. That ought to come in pretty handy right about now," Clara said as she continued to hug him tightly.

It felt so good to be able to do that again even if he wasn't hugging her in return.

"You know her then? Is she . . . someone close to you?" Leela asked as he watched the War Doctor look at Clara in a way that she had never seen him look at anyone before.

The War Doctor actually looked embarrassed as he admitted, "I . . . I actually barely know her. I don't even know what her real name is. I just know that she's someone from my future."

"You trust someone whose name that you do not know?" Leela asked in disbelief.

"So do you, Jungle Girl, or do you happen to know the Doctor's real name?" Clara challenged her.

"True, but I traveled with him for many years. I do not know you and apparently neither does he," Leela said suspiciously.

"I trust her though, Leela, even if her sudden appearance here today is a bit too convenient," The War Doctor said.

"Why? What makes you trust her so completely if you barely know her?" Leela asked in confusion.

"It's hard to explain. It's the same instinct that told me that I could trust you the first time that we met. I just know. I always know who I can trust to travel alongside me," The War Doctor said as he looked at Clara with eyes filled with faith in her.

Clara smiled at him and kissed the side of his mouth as she said, "Good. I'm glad that we've finally gotten that settled so that I don't have to feel a knife in my back. I've had more than my fill of pain lately if it's all the same to you, Old Man. You wouldn't happen to have an extra outfit or two somewhere would you? In case you hadn't noticed this one has definitely seen better days."

The War Doctor's face turned red now as he seemed to finally realize at last just how barely clothed that Clara currently was. Knowing him he probably had only just realized it Clara thought to herself in amusement.

"I have an extra outfit of my own that I could give you. It is just like this one only white. I can always take the seams in if it is too big for you," Leela offered.

"And it looks like yours?" Clara asked with a mischievous grin.

"Yes, it is similar," Leela said.

"I'll take it. It'll be worth wearing at least once just to see how the Doctor reacts to it," Clara said as she gave the Doctor an evil smile which made his face instantly turn red once more.

"Uh . . . yes. I'm sure that it'll look just fine on you," The War Doctor said in a nervous voice.

As Leela started to lead Clara to her room inside the base, Clara briefly turned around and said with a warm smile, "It's really good to see you again, Doctor, even if we are liable to be attacked by an army of murderous Daleks at any moment. I wouldn't have it any other way."

After Clara left, the War Doctor said, "Neither would I."

It was then that he finally noticed that he had never bothered to correct her use of the name Doctor for him after the first time he had told her that he wasn't the Doctor anymore. In fact, he had continued to let her call him that several times without even once saying anything about it. It was something that he definitely never would have let anyone get away with at that time in his life not even Leela.

And yet whenever this woman called him that name, it almost sounded right again somehow. For a brief moment, he could almost believe that he deserved it once more despite all of the terrible things that he had done in this war.

Who was she to bring out that kind of reaction in him?

Whoever she was, she seemed to actually be able to perform the impossible in the fact that she almost made him feel like his old self once again for the first time in so very long just by being there. She certainly was an impossible girl in order to do something like that he mused to himself.

"My impossible girl," The War Doctor said to himself with a soft smile.

 **Next: Clara,The War Doctor, and Leela fight side by side to protect Elta VII from the fury of the Daleks. Will they succeed or fail? What will happen to Clara? Will she be returned to Ashildr in 1989 or does her new path lead her in a different direction? Speaking of Ashildr, is she doomed to be a prisoner of the Time Lords forever or will the universe smile on her and give her a second (or one billionth really) chance? Will she ever see Clara again?**


	3. An Impossible Revelation

CHAPTER 3

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you so much for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews! I really appreciate them.

AN IMPOSSIBLE REVELATION

"It's useless to try to run now, Lady Me, so don't even think about it. It's finally over at last. Now that it is though I suppose I can finally admit something to you at last. I almost admire you in a way. You've definitely lasted far longer than I ever thought that you would. You were always doomed to fail in the end though naturally. No human, no matter how intelligent or experienced that they are, could ever hope to truly be superior to a Time Lord," Commander Maxil said with a smirk so wide that Ashildr couldn't help but wonder how it didn't completely swallow his face.

It was a pity that it didn't really. It would definitely be a much needed improvement.

"You're certainly my superior when it comes to arrogance, Maxil," Ashildr said with a wicked smile.

The laughter that she briefly heard coming from Maxil's guards behind his back at that moment only made her smile widen even more. If only it reflected how she truly felt. She wasn't about to give Maxil the satisfaction of seeing the utter despair filling her heart at that moment however now that Clara was gone.

"I definitely won't miss that acid tongue of yours. You have no idea just how glad I am that from now on that's going to be someone else's problem. Take her away," Maxil said in a cold voice.

"You can put me away for as long as you want, Maxil, but eventually I'll outlast even the very walls of your prison themselves. One day I'll be standing right in the middle of Gallifrey's ruins long after all of you 'superior' Time Lords have turned to dust . . . for a second time," Ashildr said with a smirk even as she willingly held out her hands to the guards while waiting for them to place restraints on her.

She was already planning out a way to escape in her head even now and was sure that she would be free long before they actually reached Gallifrey. The only trick was getting back to the TARDIS before the Time Lords could take it away. If that happened, she would be trapped in this time and would be no help to Clara at all whatsoever.

Luckily for her, however, she wouldn't have to worry about that for long.

"Stop!" Maxil shouted as he suddenly looked behind her.

At first Ashildr had no idea what he was reacting to and then to her complete astonishment she suddenly heard the TARDIS start to dematerialize behind her. Most of the guards joined Maxil and shouted out in surprise while several others immediately looked at her as if she were behind it all. She had no more idea of what was happening than they did however since there was currently no one else onboard the ship.

So who or what was piloting it and where were they going with it?

As she saw the TARDIS rapidly fading away out of the corner of her eye, she began to wonder if she would ever know the answers to those questions or not. It turned out that she didn't have long to wait before she found out however.

Ashildr now smiled with joy as the TARDIS rapidly materialized around her right in front of the now openly fuming Maxil and quickly spirited her away from him. She still didn't have a clue what was going on but seeing the impotent rage on the Time Lord's face at that moment made the whole confusing experience more than worthwhile.

"I don't know who you are but I could definitely kiss you right now," Ashildr said without turning around to see who was at the console.

"Thanks but I'll have to pass on that I think. Kissing couldn't possibly be that good if you can't experience it in all twelve dimensions at once which I definitely can't in this form," A voice that Ashildr didn't recognize said from behind her.

"Who?" Ashildr asked in confusion as she now finally turned around at last to see a young woman in her twenties standing there with a warm smile on her face.

"Who do you think I am? Think about it, Ashildr. I'm sure it shouldn't be too hard for someone with your intelligence to figure out. You're usually the smart one of the group after all not that Clara isn't absolutely brilliant all on her own of course. I say she could easily give even the Doctor a run for his money these days," The young woman said happily as she continued to talk to her as if she were an old friend while expertly manipulating the controls.

"Are you . . . ? It can't be but it simply has to be doesn't it? I have no idea how or why but you have to be the TARDIS in human form," Ashildr said as she began to smile back at her in approval.

"See? I knew you'd get it," The TARDIS said as she wrapped her arms around Ashildr and hugged her tightly.

"How though?" Ashildr somehow managed to ask as she struggled to breathe while desperately hoping that this strange girl would let her go soon.

"Ooh, now I see why Clara likes that so much. I'll have to do it more often," The TARDIS said with a satisfied look on her face as she finally pulled away from her.

"You never did answer me. How can you have a body? I know for a fact that a TARDIS matrix like yours would quickly burn out a human body in no time but you seem perfectly fine," Ashildr asked suspiciously.

"I didn't answer because I don't actually have an answer for once. I think it must have something to do with that mysterious creature that tried to take me over though. Somehow in some way a freak accident occurred during its attack on me, and my consciousness wound up being split in half and placed inside of a physical form. Perhaps it was attempting to make a body for itself in order to escape its impending destruction and it failed miserably. I don't know for sure. That's the downside of suddenly being stuck inside one of these flesh and blood shells instead of my usual one is that I no longer know the past and the future like I used to anymore when I was whole. Other than that it's not so bad being suddenly three dimensional I suppose. Unfortunately that also means that I have absolutely no idea where Clara is at this moment. I'm going to do my best to find her though so don't look so worried, Ashildr. Okay?" The TARDIS said with a reassuring smile.

"This . . . is just beyond weird and yet oddly satisfying all at the same time. Even I've never had something like this happen to me before. I'd say that it was a very welcome experience if Clara weren't currently stuck who knows where," Ashildr said in a completely mystified tone as she continued to stare at this mysterious woman with skeptical eyes.

"Well, that makes two of us then. With both of us working together on it though, we'll soon have it all figured out in no time I'm sure. Right now I'd rather have my Clara back again. Things just aren't the same around here without her. I miss her just as much as you do, you know?" The TARDIS said with a mournful expression.

"Somehow I doubt that because I feel as if I'm about to completely fall apart right now," Ashildr suddenly admitted to the strange woman to her surprise.

"I know. We'll find her though. I know we will. Well, I don't know actually but . . . Hmm. What a curious sensation! Is this what you lot call hope? Yes, I think it must be. I've never experienced it before. Up until now I always knew exactly what was going to happen at every moment in the past, present, and future so I never had to hope for anything. It's very scary isn't it?" The TARDIS said in an obviously worried voice as she put a comforting arm around Ashildr.

"Yes. Yes, it is," Ashildr admitted as she rested her head on her new/old friend's shoulder and fought back a desperate urge to cry at that moment.

Clara meanwhile almost felt like crying herself back on Elta VII but for a very different reason. Wearing Leela's extra outfit seemed like a fun idea when she was just trying to prompt an embarrassed reaction out of the Doctor, but it wasn't so great in actual practice when she had to wear it in front of all of the other Time Lords on that world. Sure, it covered all of the proper areas but it revealed far more of her than she was usually comfortable in showing in public especially to total strangers.

Leela actually seemed more than a bit amused by her reaction as she said, "I did offer to give you an extra suit of battle armor. I would still suggest that you wear one even if you are as indestructible as you seem if only to keep you from having that horrified look on your face. I am not sure why you appear so embarrassed, Elizabeth. I've seen your Earth bathing suits and they are far more revealing."

"Yeah, I know but I'd still prefer not to have everyone here committing a mental picture of me in this outfit to memory if it's all the same to you, Jungle Girl," Clara said with a small smile.

"And yet you did not seem to care if the Doctor saw you in it earlier," Leela pointed out.

Clara gave her a wicked smile as she said, "That's different. I suppose I really didn't think this through too well though. I mean what if he gets too distracted in the middle of battle, and I wind up _really_ messing his timeline up? Still catching the look on his face when he finally sees me like this might almost be worth the risk."

"You love him," Leela said as she watched her with curious eyes.

It wasn't a question. It was more a statement of fact Clara noted.

Clara only smiled but said nothing in return.

"I am sorry. It is none of my business," Leela quickly said as she saw her reaction.

"It's alright. I'm glad that you finally realize that I couldn't possibly hurt him in any way though. Maybe now you'll stop watching me like a hawk every moment?" Clara said with a hesitant smile.

"Perhaps," Leela said with an enigmatic look on her face that Clara couldn't read.

Clara frowned as she said, "Fine. Keep an eye on me if it'll make you feel any better, but I'd much rather you keep both of them on the Doctor instead. He'll get into even more trouble than usual if someone's not constantly watching him twenty-four seven."

Leela laughed as she said, "We will both have to keep an eye on him together then."

"I so hope that means that you've finally decided not to plant a knife in my back at any moment now. The last time someone did that to me I couldn't sit down properly for weeks. You have no idea how annoying that is," Clara said only half joking.

Leela looked at her in surprise as she said, "You have actually been stabbed in the back before?"

"Yep, and lived to talk about it. Well, existed anyway since I'm not technically alive. I'm more like a time traveling zombie but a really cute one. At least I like to think so anyway but I may be a bit biased," Clara said with a mischievous grin.

"You joke constantly in order to keep others from noticing exactly how much pain that you are in," Leela pointed out with a sympathetic look.

"Yes," Clara admitted with a sad look.

"And yet I did not notice this pain when you were with the Doctor earlier. You seemed to be an entirely different person then. You were filled with such joy that it seemed as if you were about to burst because of it. That feeling seems to be completely gone now though," Leela realized.

"That's because not being with him anymore is the reason that I'm in pain," Clara blurted out without thinking.

Then she immediately gave Leela a look of regret as she said, "Forget that I ever said that."

Leela nodded as she said, "I will not tell the Doctor if that is what you wish but I also will not forget it because I could see the honesty in your eyes just then. I trust you now, Elizabeth. You would never harm someone who you obviously love so very deeply."

Clara smiled as she said, "You're a bit slow but at least you finally got there. It certainly took you long enough, Jungle Jill. You seem to have a bit of a problem trusting people. You ought to work on that."

"This is war. I have to know for certain whether I can trust everyone around me or not or the Doctor may wind up dead," Leela said in a serious tone.

Clara nodded as she said," Yeah, I guess I see your point. I'm glad that you're looking out for him like that then because I'm not much of a warrior myself."

Leela looked at her skeptically then which immediately caused Clara to say, "What?"

"You are either being dishonest with me or with yourself. I know the signs of a warrior, Elizabeth. You constantly look around you at all times for every possible avenue of escape from each and every room that you enter in this base as if you are committing them to memory just in case you might need them later. I have also noticed you paying close attention to everyone here as if you are trying to learn as much about them as possible in case you might need that knowledge in combat later. Even now when you seem to be at peace you are silently preparing for battle," Leela said.

Clara shrugged as she said, "You could just call it force of habit I suppose. You have to learn to do all of that in our business because it helps you save as many people as possible later on when and if something eventually goes wrong. That doesn't make me a warrior though or maybe I should say that I don't like to think of myself as one anyway because I don't use weapons. Well, usually I don't anyway."

"Like the Doctor," Leela said with a smile.

"I always liked that about him that he wouldn't carry a gun. I noticed that he still doesn't use one even now in the middle of an all-out war. Then again he really doesn't need one does he?" Clara said as she briefly smiled back at her.

"The Doctor's mind was always his greatest weapon. He has no need of any other," Leela agreed.

"Unfortunately that's all too true, Elizabeth. I don't need a gun to needlessly destroy lives these days," The War Doctor's voice said from somewhere down the hall that was just out of Clara's line of sight.

"Now don't start getting all mopey on me, Doctor. I can already see that keeping a smile on your face in this incarnation is going to be a full-time job all in itself," Clara said with a wicked grin while she eagerly waited to see what his reaction to her outfit would be in a moment when he finally saw her.

He didn't disappoint her in the slightest. As soon as he caught a glimpse of her, his eyes widened and he immediately looked away from her with an extremely uncomfortable look on his face. Clara couldn't help but start laughing right away. This made her own discomfort earlier more than worth it to her now because she was enjoying every moment of watching him squirm.

"Eyes up front, soldier," Clara couldn't resist saying as she giggled.

"Leela, Don't . . . Don't you have something else that she can wear?" The War Doctor said in a nervous voice as he deliberately focused all of his attention on Clara's eyes.

"What's wrong, Old Man? It didn't seem to bother you when it was just Leela wearing it. Do you think I might take all of the Daleks' attention away from you now?" Clara said with a huge grin.

"I doubt it. Their idea of beauty is far different from most species," The War Doctor said as he continued to look highly uncomfortable.

That discomfort was only increased when Clara said, "Oh, so you think I'm beautiful then do you?"

The War Doctor's face instantly reddened and he quickly gave Leela a look that was clearly begging her to change the subject.

Clara smiled and decided to have mercy on him as she kissed his cheek while saying, "Don't look so worried, Soldier Man. I'm just winding you up. I do that . . . from time to time. You'll find that out for yourself someday"

The War Doctor actually smiled back at her now as he said, "I look forward to it."

"Oh, I know you do," Clara said with a seductive smile that instantly made the Doctor highly uncomfortable once more and caused Leela to roll her eyes at her.

"Sir! We've just received word that a patrol of Daleks was spotted nearby," One of the War Doctor's men said as he suddenly approached them with an anxious look on his face.

"I never thought I'd actually be happy to hear those words," The War Doctor said with a greatly relieved look on his face as Clara softly chuckled under her breath at him.

"What?" The soldier said in confusion.

That state of bewilderment was made even worse by the soldier's shocking realization that the Doctor of War was actually smiling at the mysterious young woman with him. He couldn't have been more surprised if the Daleks had suddenly stopped fighting and started singing one of their infamous operas instead.

The old man never, ever smiled no matter what.

"Never mind. What is their estimated time of arrival?" The War Doctor said as his smile quickly faded and he suddenly became absolutely serious once more.

"They should arrive near the force field generator within the next few minutes, Sir. I've placed an entire regiment around the generator, but I don't think that it will be enough. We've lost far too many soldiers in the last few days to give it a proper defense. I'm not sure just how long we can hold out against them if their numbers are too large," The soldier admitted with a worried look.

The War Doctor nodded and sighed as he said, "And of course the High Council can't be bothered to send any reinforcements despite how vital that this area is to keeping control of this corner of the galaxy. They've kept most of our forces on Gallifrey and expect me to fight a war with what's leftover. Typical."

"Probably a good idea actually," Clara said to herself in a low voice.

The War Doctor gave no indications of having heard her as he gave the soldier next to him a brief look of fondness while he said, "And yet I couldn't have asked for a better group to be by my side during all of this."

The soldier saluted him and said, "Thank you, Sir. We feel exactly the same way about you. We all know that you're the only reason that we've survived this long. Every other unit that gets sent to fight against the Daleks usually has an extremely limited life span. We've actually lasted several months now even despite our losses. That has to be some kind of record."

The War Doctor looked at him with clear regret now as he said, "I'm glad that the others have so much confidence in me, but I can't really promise that you'll all make it through this. Any of you. Despite my reputation, I don't always win, soldier. Take the Daleks for instance. I've been fighting them all of my lives and yet they're still here threatening to rip away everything that I value . . . just like they always do."

"And yet here you are still fighting them anyway, and you always will be no matter what they throw at you. That's the promise of the name that you took for yourself. You never give up or give in no matter what, Doctor," Clara said as she smiled at him with pride.

"That promise no longer holds any meaning for me anymore. I am not the Doctor that you knew anymore and I doubt that I ever will be again despite what adventures that you say you've had with the future me. That version of me must be some kind of temporal anomaly or from some alternate reality because I have no future, Elizabeth. None of us do. I know that now," The War Doctor said in a haunted voice.

"Do you? Is that why you're still here fighting then because you're so convinced that you're going to lose?" Clara said in a voice filled with faith.

"I'm just too stubborn to know when to give up I suppose," The War Doctor said sadly.

"Yes, you are. Want me to tell you why? It's because you still haven't given up hope yet. You've never given up hope no matter how bleak that things look and you never will no matter what. It's just too much a part of who you are isn't it . . . Doctor?" Clara said as she held his face in her hands and drew it closer to her.

"You seem to see only the best of me no matter what, Elizabeth. I wish I was the hero that you seem to think that I am," The War Doctor said in a weary voice.

"No, not a hero, Old Man. We already have far too many heroes here. I want you to be a Doctor. That's who you are. It's who you'll always be even if you sometimes forget that. You could no more turn your back on that than you could stand by and just watch a frightened child cry. You're the Doctor and nothing will ever change that no matter what happens. Be the Doctor that these people need to carry them through their darkest hours. Be the Doctor that the universe needs," Clara said with a warm smile as she moved her lips closer to his.

"Be the Doctor that I need," Clara said as she finally gave him a passionate kiss that took him completely by surprise.

The soldier's jaw dropped open in amazement as he watched the grizzled Doctor of War actually begin to kiss her back while Leela merely smiled and silently turned the soldier's head to the side so that the two of them could have some privacy. If she had still had any lingering doubts about the mysterious Elizabeth's true intentions here, that had just completely put them to rest.

Suddenly a voice came from the communications device on the War Doctor's belt that said, "Sir! The Daleks have just changed course. They're no longer heading towards the force field generator."

The War Doctor reluctantly pulled away from Clara as he said, "Where are they headed then?"

"Straight towards you," The voice warned in a frantic tone.

"Why though? Why would they . . . ?" The War Doctor asked in confusion and then he looked at Clara in horror as the answer finally hit him all at once.

"What? My kiss wasn't that bad was it?" Clara joked in a worried voice.

"Elizabeth, you have to get out of here! Use this to get to safety," The War Doctor warned as he quickly slipped a Time Ring around her arm.

"I'm not going anywhere. When I said that I was the Doctor before back at the cave, I wasn't just being cheeky. This is exactly what I meant. I've lived for centuries by the same promise that you made and I don't plan on breaking it now. I never surrender either no matter what and I'm not about to leave your side while you're in danger," Clara said in a defiant voice.

"It's not me that's in danger. It's you," The War Doctor said in an anxious voice.

"What?" Clara said in confusion as she still didn't quite understand what he was trying to tell her.

Unfortunately for her, it was already far too late now to do anything about it anyway.

"THE TEMPORAL ANOMALY HAS BEEN DETECTED SOMEWHERE IN THIS AREA. FIND THE WOMAN WHO CANNOT DIE AND BRING HER BACK TO BE STUDIED AT ONCE. WE MUST DISCOVER HER SECRET. SHE MAY YET GIVE US THE FINAL ADVANTAGE AGAINST THE TIME LORDS," A Dalek voice commanded from somewhere nearby.

Then before Clara could have even had a chance to use the Time Ring to escape (not that she would have anyway), the Daleks were suddenly everywhere around her at once. The soldier with them immediately began firing on them while the War Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to scramble their inner mechanisms and send them crashing into each other. Leela meanwhile kicked the nearest Dalek to her so hard that she sent it hurtling straight into several others and caused them all to start violently careening backwards out of control.

"That will not keep them away for long. Go. You must leave while you still have time," Leela commanded Clara.

"Not a chance, Jungle Girl. In fact, I'm about to turn the tables in this little battle just by being here. Watch and learn," Clara said with a smug smile as she walked straight into the middle of the firefight without hesitation.

Several Dalek blasts hit her at once as she went but she ignored the pain and continued to walk steadily forward anyway. Nothing was going to stop her from saving the Doctor from the problem that she herself had apparently created just by being here in the first place.

The Daleks had come there for her after all.

Yet again she had unwittingly caused a Doctor to be in danger without meaning to, and she was more than sick of it by this point. This time though she was determined that she was going to do something about it.

Despite the immense pain that the Dalek blasts were causing all throughout her body, she somehow managed to get within reach of one of them and placed her hands on its outer casing. She smiled as the casing instantly fell away and revealed the startled creature inside to her. Before it could even begin to react, Clara swiftly pulled the Dalek out of its casing and got inside herself.

"THAT'S ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING BEEN ONE OF YOU BEFORE. I STILL HAVE A CONNECTION TO YOU THAT I CAN USE TO OPEN YOUR CASINGS. WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT ELSE I CAN USE IT FOR, PEPPER POTS?" Clara taunted in a Dalek voice as she used the iron willpower that she had honed over several centuries to successfully say and do whatever she wanted to instead of being controlled by the Dalek tech.

The War Doctor looked on in astonishment as Clara began to use the Dalek casing to fire on and destroy several Daleks at once while flying through their incoming fire with all of the grace and speed of a fighter jet. Was there nothing that his Impossible Girl couldn't do?

He was in complete agreement with the Daleks for once about her. He had to know who she was and exactly who she was to him. He vowed to himself right then and there that one day he would find out no matter how long that it took him.

For a moment, it actually did seem as if Clara was about to turn the tide just as she said that she would. Then in one terrible moment, everything suddenly went horribly wrong all at once.

That was when a Special Weapons Dalek appeared in the room out of nowhere and unleashed a massive blast that completely disintegrated Clara's stolen Dalek casing and took the Doctor's hapless soldier along with it as he instantly dissolved into ashes amidst the fiery inferno it had created. The resulting shockwave sent Clara's otherwise completely unharmed body flying into the nearest wall and instantly knocked her out cold as a result.

"THE UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE IS NOW OURS. TAKE HER TO THE MAIN COMMAND SHIP IN ORBIT AROUND GALLIFREY," The Dalek Commander ordered the Special Weapons Dalek.

"I OBEY," The Special Weapons Dalek answered as it briefly touched Clara with its shell and both of them vanished before the War Doctor's eyes while he looked on in quiet despair.

"THE FEMALE IS NOW OURS, DOCTOR. SOON WE WILL DISCOVER THE SECRET OF HER INDESTRUCTIBILITY AND USE IT TO FINALLY GIVE US THE ULTIMATE VICTORY IN THIS WAR. YOU HAVE LOST YOUR FINAL BATTLE WITH US AT LAST AND NOW YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" The Dalek Commander taunted as it led the other Daleks against the War Doctor.

"You still don't understand do you? The Doctor is no longer here but you're really going to wish that he were. Your last chance at receiving any mercy from him just left with that girl though. Now you face the Warrior instead. Good bye, Daleks," The War Doctor said in a cold voice as he used his sonic screwdriver to quickly and violently start blowing up one Dalek after another in rapid succession.

"EXTERMINATE HIM!" The Dalek commander shouted as all of the Daleks near him opened fire on him at once.

"No! No more deaths at your hands, no more killing, no more suffering," The War Doctor said in a stern tone as his hearts started breaking at the thought of what they might be doing to his Impossible Girl at that very moment.

The thought of the woman who had actually made him feel like himself once again and given him a clear reason to keep going for the first time in far too many long, pain-filled years being trapped there all alone and at the Daleks' mercy made him angrier than he had ever felt in all of his lives. A white hot rage now swept over him as he prepared himself to finally do whatever it took to end all of this at last.

"THE DOCTOR IS GAINING THE UPPER HAND. WE MUST EXTERMINATE HIM QUICKLY BEFORE HE WINDS UP EXTERMINATING US INSTEAD," The Dalek Commander ordered in a panicked tone.

The War Doctor was an unstoppable force of nature by this point though. He continued to ruthlessly destroy one Dalek after another as they tried their best to wipe him out of existence altogether . . . and failed miserably. He moved so quickly that they never even came close. He was a man on a mission now and nothing was about to stop him.

Elizabeth's loss had been the final straw. He swore to himself that he would now end this Time War either one way or another so that there would never be any more like it. He would do that for her so that her sacrifice wouldn't have been for nothing.

"PROTECT ME! PROTECT ME!" The Dalek Commander cried out in terror as the War Doctor steadily drew closer and closer to it by the moment while tearing through its army like it was made out of tin foil.

"No more," The War Doctor promised the woman that he was sure that he would now never really know as he finally destroyed the Dalek Commander last.

Leela looked at him in shock as she said in concern, "Doctor, are you alright?"

"I'm not the Doctor. I have a new promise that I'm going to keep now. No more war, Leela. This time I'm finally going to end it forever. I'm going to Gallifrey. Do your best to hold them off here until I accomplish my mission there," The War Doctor said in a hard voice.

"And what mission is that?" Leela asked as she looked at him sadly because she knew that his hearts must have completely broken in order to take him this far down.

"There's a weapon in the Omega Arsenal that will finally end all of this. I should have used it a long time ago but Elizabeth was right. The Doctor was never truly gone . . . until now," The War Doctor said as he raced away from her with a determined look on his face.

"I am so sorry, my friend. I pray that you have the courage not to use that weapon and somehow find that better way that you always taught me to look for instead," Leela wished out loud as she grimly walked away to take command of the Doctor's army in his absence just as he had asked her to do.

He had no way of knowing that he was soon about to meet his Impossible Girl yet again and that this past version of her would wind up talking him out of what he was about to do. Clara Oswald would ultimately end up granting Leela her wish and yet again save the Doctor from himself just in the brink of time . . . with a little helpful assist from Rose Tyler of course.

The present Clara however had her own problems at that moment as she woke up strapped to a table right in the middle of the main Dalek command ship. She quickly struggled to escape but soon discovered that she was strapped in so tightly that she was completely unable to move. Worse than that was when she realized that her Time Ring was sitting on a nearby table just out of her reach. Then her heart froze (metaphorically speaking) as she saw what else was lying on that table.

She could only look on in terror as she realized that it was filled with deadly razor sharp instruments that she instinctively knew were used in dissection. The Daleks were going to find out what made her tick the hard way.

And even she wasn't sure if she could come back from something like that or not.

"Well, that's certainly a new one, isn't it? Definitely haven't tried that out yet, and I really was hoping that I wouldn't have to either," Clara said in a grim voice.

Then suddenly the entire ship disintegrated in a fiery inferno that made what the Special Weapons Dalek had done earlier look like a campfire by comparison. Clara was left completely unharmed as usual but was now cast completely adrift and absolutely helpless in the depths of space while she floated among the ruins of the once might Dalek fleet.

This must have been the end of the Time War she now realized. The Doctor just blew all of the Dalek ships around Gallifrey up while sending the planet itself away to safety. She couldn't help but smile as she realized that the War Doctor had finally reached the end of his long, terrible nightmare at last.

Now if only she could reach the end of her own.

Then she suddenly cheered (or would have if she had had any air to use) as she saw the Time Ring come slowly floating by her. She grabbed the ring quickly before it had a chance to move past her and then closed her eyes in deep concentration as she focused her entire will on one thing and one thing only.

The Doctor.

She no longer cared what damage she might possibly do to her own timestream. She just wanted to go back to him again and end all of this once and for all.

She smiled as she felt herself disappearing and then her smile widened as she found herself in the familiar surroundings of the Doctor's TARDIS once more. She was so happy to finally be free and breathing again at last (despite not really having to anymore) that she didn't realize that something was just a bit off about it.

Then her mind quickly put two and two together as soon as she heard a familiar voice say, "Yowza! That outfit still takes a bit of getting used to, doesn't it? Well, I finally found you only it's not exactly the version that I was looking for right now. I was still looking for the original humany wumany version of you that I haven't actually met yet. Leather outfits are definitely cool on you though by the way just in case you were wondering. Can you believe that I'd actually forgotten how you looked in that? I definitely must be getting old."

"You?" Clara said in astonishment as she found herself face to face with the Eleventh Doctor as he gave her that warm smile of his that she used to love so very much.

"Yes, of course it's me. I get the idea that I wasn't quite the version of me that you were expecting either. Looking for Captain Grumpy instead?" The Doctor said with a pleased smile.

"Well, he was certainly grumpy anyway," Clara said with a huge smile as she started to move towards him to hug him.

Then she stopped as she suddenly realized something.

"You never erased your memories did you? You still remember meeting me as both Question Mark Man and Grand Dad, don't you?" Clara said in an accusing tone.

"And why should I have erased my memories? I still didn't know who you were yet or what your connection was to me, and I wanted to make sure that one day I eventually found out. I had to ensure that I would meet you one day and not risk creating a paradox by accidentally passing you by instead. Considering what's been happening lately though, I really didn't need to worry about that though did I? I didn't recognize you on the Dalek Asylum but I really should have. I mean who else could have kept themselves from being completely controlled by them but you? Then I finally put everything together when I met you again as a Governess. I still didn't recognize you at first because it had been so long since I last saw you but when you mentioned soufflés just as Oswin did at the Asylum and the immortal you did back at your diner I finally put at all together at last. Then just like every other time I've met you, you seemed to die right in front of me again. I just keep meeting different versions of you that all end up either dead or seemingly soon about to be dead, Clara Oswald or Elizabeth Bennet or whoever you really are, and yet you magically pop up again later on alive and well as if nothing ever happened. Who are you?" The Doctor asked suspiciously.

Clara could see now by the way that he was acting that this was when he was still unsure about her and actually wondering if she might be some sort of trap for him. In a way, she supposed that she was since Missy had wanted them to meet, but she had certainly never known that at the time.

Wait a minute! He doesn't trust me? _He_ doesn't trust me?! Yeah, that's a good one! Clara thought to herself furiously as the full implications of what she had just found out finally began to dawn on her at last.

Clara's heart instantly filled with fury as she said, "You knew. You knew all along that I would eventually end up immortal and unable to die while traveling through time and space without you. Didn't you? You knew!"

That explained so much that she had never understood before. That was why the Doctor had trained how in how to handle trouble by herself exactly like he would and taught her how to use and fix his sonic technology. It was also why he had started teaching her how to fly the TARDIS almost from the beginning of her time with him. It all made sense now. Now she finally had a real answer as to why he had left her all alone to solve that whole horrible situation on the moon by herself.

He was training her. He had been training her all along without her even understanding it because he knew that one day she would wind up traveling without him even if he didn't know why or how.

"You knew!" Clara shouted as she slapped the Doctor in the face as hard as she could in anger.

The Doctor grimaced and rubbed his face gingerly as he said, "Let me guess. That was for something that I haven't done yet wasn't it? I tend to have this sort of thing happen a lot to me for some reason."

"That was for a lot of somethings, Chin Boy. You always knew what was going to ultimately end up happening to me and never told me," Clara said in a furious voice.

The Doctor looked at her sympathetically now as he said, "I'm sorry but I really couldn't tell you anything. You should already know that by now from traveling with me. No one should know too much about their own future."

"Yeah, no one but you that is. Aren't you special, Fez Boy?" Clara hissed.

"Clara, I'm sorry," The Doctor said with such a sad look in his eyes that she knew that he really meant it.

"I know," Clara said in a soft voice as she already began to forgive him.

She knew that he had had no other choice after all.

Then she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly as she said in a voice filled with pain, "I wish I could stay."

"So do I. I don't like the idea of you traveling alone forever. If anyone knows what that does to someone, it's me. I assume that I'm not with you for a very good reason though whatever it is," The Doctor said as he gingerly kissed the top of her head.

Clara buried her head in his chest as she said, "Well, you certainly thought so at the time, but I'm not so sure. I never was to be honest. You seemed to be so certain of just how right that you were though."

"There's one thing that you have to learn about me, Clara Oswald. Well, one other thing besides the whole madman in a box thing that is. I'm also a bit of an idiot at times and I tend to make things up as I go along," The Doctor said as he smiled at her and softly stroked her hair.

Clara laughed and gave him a kiss on the side of his mouth as she said, "What else is new? And here I thought you were about to tell me something important."

The Doctor frowned and began to pout as he said in an annoyed voice, "The point is that even I can be wrong sometimes . . . occasionally."

Clara smiled at him and then gave him a tender kiss before saying, "Occasionally?"

She became serious though as she said, "I get your meaning though. I need to find out once and for all if I really do need to be separated from you forever or not. I have to know for sure because . . ."

She began to start breaking down now but quickly stopped herself as she said in an emotional voice, "I need you, Doctor. I miss you so much."

The Doctor looked at her in surprise even as he said, "Then go out there and find a way to get back to me. There's always hope, Clara. You just have to know where to look for it sometimes, but it's still there all the same. I just learned that lesson again myself when I thought you had died defeating the Great Intelligence and yet here you are."

Clara started to tell him that that particular version of her actually had died but decided against it. She had already messed around with her own past far too much lately as it was.

Suddenly the console began to beep and the Doctor rushed to it. He looked at Clara with a huge smile a moment later as he said, "There's someone that wants to talk to you."

He turned a dial on the console and suddenly the monitor lit up and an extremely relieved looking Ashildr was looking back at her. She was grinning from ear to ear with such unbridled joy that Clara knew that she would have received the mother of all hugs if she had been onboard her own TARDIS at that moment.

"Hello, Viking Girl. Did you miss me?" Clara said with a smirk.

"Who could miss you in that outfit? What _are_ you wearing?" Ashildr said with a chuckle.

A feeling of elation flooded through Clara as she finally realized at last that everything was finally going to be okay now. Even better than that, she suddenly had a renewed sense of hope that she and the Doctor might actually be eventually reunited one day.

Just like Grand Dad, her nightmare was finally over at last.

She was so very wrong about that however. It was only just beginning.

 _I won't let you hurt them. I'll stop you somehow._ The now human TARDIS thought as she watched Clara and Ashildr set up a time and place where they could be swiftly reunited once more over the monitor.

 _You have little choice in the matter I'm afraid. You are now mine to do with as I will whether you want to serve me or not plus I have all of your knowledge and power at my disposal. Soon thanks to you I will have Clara Oswald back in my grasp once more, and then I will finally find a way to truly kill her once and for all. She will finally pay for destroying me and then I will use your power to regain my godhood once more. Akhaten will live again!_ The voice of her new master said in triumph in the helpless TARDIS' mind.

 **Next: That's right. He's back! Akhaten returns once more and is more than willing to do everything that he can to finally get rid of Clara once and for all. Will he actually be able to succeed this time around or is Clara far harder to get rid of than even the former living planet realizes? Plus we'll see Clara do some serious research on the subject of the Hybrid. What will she discover and will it actually help her eventually reunite with the Doctor once more?**


	4. Let The Game Begin Anew

CHAPTER 4

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews!

LET THE GAME BEGIN ANEW

"Attention, all members of the Chancellery Guard! This is Rassilon. The Capitol has just been invaded by an unknown alien intruder. They must be found at once and summarily executed for daring to break into the very heart of Gallifrey herself. This breach of security must not go unanswered!" A furious voice screeched as alarm klaxons began to go off everywhere in the city at once.

"All I did was take a quick little peek into the Matrix, Tyrant Boy. No need to go all ballistic. It's not like I nicked the family silverware or had a secret midnight tryst with one of your kids or something. Although I do have to admit that your daughter was kind of h . . ." Clara muttered to herself with a sly smile as she raced through the Capitol's corridors wearing an invisibility watch that she hoped would be enough to keep her from being undiscovered until she could get back to the TARDIS.

"Clara!" An angry voice suddenly shouted in Clara's ear over the comlink that she wore to keep her in constant contact with the ship.

Clara immediately winced and gritted her teeth together as she said, "Now I'm in trouble."

Ashildr sounded angrier than Clara had ever heard her as she said, "You'd better believe that you are. Kindly explain to me why we're currently in the middle of the Capitol on Gallifrey back in the founding days of the Time Lords. It seems like every single time that I go to sleep lately I wake up to find you hip deep in trouble. Are you going through your second childhood again lately or are you actively trying to completely rewrite the entire history of time and space?"

"Calm down, Viking Girl! I have it all completely under control. I promise," Clara said in a reassuring voice even as several staser blasts began to fire all around her.

"The intruder's here somewhere. I heard a voice," One of the Capitol guards shouted as he continued to fire in her direction despite being unable to see her.

"Or I did until you called anyway, 'Mum'," Clara said to herself in an angry voice as she used her martial arts skills to quickly knock out the guard who had found her before he could say anything else.

"What was that?" Ashildr snapped even as several other guards came around the corner to see the now unconscious guard lying there and began firing wildly in all directions as they too shouted for help to the others.

"The intruder is over here somewhere! They apparently have some kind of advanced cloaking technology that hides not only their appearance but also their life signs from detection however. Proceed with extreme caution. This could be an advanced scout preparing the way for an invasion of Gallifrey by some new unknown enemy force. I would prefer you to take them alive but permission is given to terminate them with extreme prejudice if there seems to be no other way to prevent them from leaving the Capitol. They must not be allowed to escape with whatever information that they took from the Matrix," The commander of the guards warned the others over his communicator as he came on the scene.

"Wonderful. I just had to run into yet another paranoid Maxil type. You know if I didn't know any better I'd swear that you were actually trying to sabotage me on purpose, Ashy. I had almost gotten away without being spotted until you started yelling. Now thanks to you half of the city guard knows where I am," Clara whispered in an annoyed voice.

"It would serve you right if they did find you. The Time Lords have only been trying to hunt you down for centuries now to send you back to what you know is your certain doom so what do you do? You go right to their front door! What is wrong with you? Do you want to die, Clara? What possible reason could you have to do something this reckless?" Ashildr said in a voice that was now beyond angry.

Clara sighed now because she could easily hear the almost paralyzing fear in Ashildr's voice that she was carefully trying to hide thanks to so many long centuries of having known her. Her friend was scared to death for her.

"First of all, I went back to Gallifrey's distant past where no one knows who I am, and I'm using this watch which is thankfully far too advanced for them to override. Plus I'm using an echo device that I picked up on Draxus Alpha that distorts my voice and makes it sound like it's coming from all over the room at once to throw people off. Don't worry so much. I'm almost back to the TARDIS so you can yell at me in person any minute now," Clara said in a reassuring voice.

Suddenly a massive explosion went off behind her as one of the trigger happy guards' shots hit something vital in one of the walls near her. The resulting shockwave from the blast almost knocked her off of her feet and caused her to slow up just long enough for the other guards to finally catch up to her at last. She was now in serious danger of being surrounded as the guards began to close in on her.

"Although I wouldn't mind it too terribly much if you could just come and get me. Don't be worried about damaging my fragile ego, Ashy. I can take it," Clara said in a worried voice as she began rapidly dodging multiple blasts that were coming just a little too close to her for comfort now.

They probably couldn't seriously harm her but they could cause her enough pain to momentarily stun her and that would easily get her captured. She couldn't afford to allow that to happen.

Then she'd definitely never see the Doctor again, and that was what this was all about wasn't it?

"Don't worry, Clara. I'm coming. I'm not about to let my favorite pilot go down this way even if she is a stubborn, self-absorbed narcissist," The voice of the TARDIS's human self said over Clara's comlink.

"Hear that, Ashy? I'm her favorite," Clara said with a smile as she suddenly heard the materialization sounds of the TARDIS around her.

"Yes, that is what you would take from all of that isn't it?" Ashildr said with a groan.

"Stop them! They've stolen a capsule somehow!" A guard shouted in alarm.

It was already far too late however.

"And your point is?" Clara said to Ashildr with a smirk as she teased her in person now while the TARDIS finally surrounded her completely and immediately began to take her to safety.

Ashildr growled in frustration now as she said to the TARDIS' human self in an annoyed tone, "Eleanor, just how much damage did she do to Gallifrey's history by pulling this little stunt?"

The TARDIS had taken the name Eleanor after Clara's mother, Ellie. She had told Clara that she had always liked that name and since Clara probably couldn't pronounce her real one that it would serve her just as well as any.

Eleanor smiled while quickly checking her mechanical alter ego's console as she said, "Amazingly enough the old Oswald luck just came through for my favorite girl all over again, Ash. Rassilon, who has an even bigger ego than Clara's believe it or not, quickly hushes this whole thing up because he doesn't want anyone to know that someone could get in and out of the Capitol under his very nose without getting caught. Having that sort of thing leak out wouldn't exactly help his public image of being all stern and tough now would it?"

"Why do you insist on constantly rubbing it in my face that she's your favorite? I get that. I understood it right from the very start long before you could ever speak a word to me. You don't have to keep mentioning it," Ashildr said with a frown.

"Hey, don't be jealous, Ash. I love you too. You know that," Eleanor said as she quickly hugged Ashildr whose frown deepened even more in response.

"Again with the hugging. Always with the hugging," Ashildr muttered.

"Don't pay any attention to her, Ashy. I'm not really her favorite. She loves us both equally. She just says that to get your goat because she knows how uptight you are. It's the very same reason that she's constantly hugging you too by the way in case you haven't figured it out by now. She knows it bothers you," Clara said as she watched Ashildr cringing in Eleanor's arms with an amused chuckle.

"This doesn't disturb me half as much as what you just did does. What on Earth were you thinking, Clara? What was so important in that time period that you almost wound up getting yourself killed for good over it?" Ashildr demanded.

Clara took a deep breath because she knew what Ashildr's reaction would most likely be as she said, "Information. I had to know where the prophecy of the Hybrid came from and who first came up with it. According to the other trips to Gallifrey's past that I've made, I learned that the earliest mentions of it came from this time period so I came here to read the original version so that I could see exactly what it said for myself."

"Earlier trips? You've been to Gallifrey's past before?" Ashildr said in disbelief.

Clara smiled at her mischievously as she said, "Several times actually while you were peacefully dozing away. Oddly enough I got in and out without being discovered each and every time before. I was doing just fine this time too until someone had to start screaming in my ear. You're not my mother, Ashy, so please stop trying to fill in for her."

"Well, obviously someone has to watch out for you. You're going to wind up completely wiping yourself out of existence if you keep this up and all just to learn what you already know. You and the Doctor are the Hybrid, Clara. You always were. You can't change that no matter how much you don't want it to be true. You can make as many trips to the past as you want, but it won't make any difference whatsoever," Ashildr admonished her.

Then her face softened as she continued in a far kinder voice, "I'm sorry, Clara. I really am. I know just how badly that you want to travel with him again but you can't. You know that. It just puts both you and the universe in far too much danger. It's better this way. Trust me."

Clara smiled because she knew that Ashildr truly did love her and was looking out for her in her own way. This time she was just plain wrong though. She knew that now with absolute certainty after this last visit to Gallifrey.

"What if everything that we think that we know is wrong though?" Clara said with a renewed look of hope on her face.

"What are you talking about? I thought that we settled all of this long ago. You already found out centuries ago what the prophecy said and agreed yourself that it sounded far too much like you and the Doctor to be a coincidence," Ashildr said with a weary look.

This was hardly the first time that Clara would look for a way to go back to him after all. She had been through all of this with her several times before and each time she had to see the same look of heartbreak on Clara's face as she realized that things weren't going to work out for her. She really didn't care to go through that again.

This time would be different though.

"Yeah, exactly and that's when I should have known that something was up. The actual prophecy was always just a little too descriptive and way too close to the mark and that's always bothered me. It's almost as if it was designed specifically just to break the two of us up," Clara said in a conspiratorial tone.

"That's because it was some long forgotten Time Lord seer's vision of the future. Obviously this person was a very powerful psychic to have foreseen what was to come so well. That hardly makes it a conspiracy, Clara," Ashildr said a patient voice.

"What if the prophecy just seems to come out of nowhere, Ashy? What about then?" Clara asked with a smile.

"What are you getting at?" Ashildr said in confusion.

"I've been slowly tracing the origins of the prophecy throughout Gallifrey's history to find out exactly when it came about and who first came up with it. It took a while but I finally found out exactly what I wanted to know. Supposedly someone named Serena, who was a high ranking member of Rassy's government, had a vision of the future that eventually turned into the whole Hybrid prophecy. In fact, she had this vision on the very same day that we just escaped from a minute ago. That's why I visited there to see if I could find out more about this woman so that I could find her and go talk to her right after she had the vision. I wanted to hear it all straight from the source," Clara explained.

"Well, obviously that's not going to happen now. You can't risk going back there again, Clara. They'll be expecting you next time," Ashildr warned.

"You don't have to worry about that, Ashy, because it turns out that I won't have to after all. There is no Serena. There never was," Clara said in triumph.

"So maybe history got some of the details wrong or Rassilon changed the official story for some reason like he did about your little visit there. That doesn't mean anything," Ashildr reasoned.

Clara shook her head profusely as she said, "All of the historical accounts agree that Serena had the prophecy at that exact time and place in Gallifrey's history. They even have a fake biography of Serena that supposedly tells people all about her. It's in the Matrix itself. And yet when I went into the Matrix just now on the day that Serena is supposed to have had the prophecy there's not a thing on her. That's because she never existed. There is no Serena in Rassy's government and never has been and there's no recording of the prophecy at all. You know that Rassilon always made sure to record and document every prophecy just in case they came back to bite him later on. He was very serious about that sort of thing. There's no way he wouldn't have had that recorded in the Matrix immediately by the end of that day which is when I went to visit."

"Clara, I'm sure history just got the details a bit wrong is all. You can't always go by what it says. Trust me. I know from first hand experience exactly how the official account of the past tends to get certain details wrong. Care to know exactly how the great London fire in 1666 got started for instance? I guarantee that history definitely didn't record the details of that one correctly," Ashildr said with a wicked smile.

Clara frowned as she said, "Yes, I know all about the Terileptils and the Doctor's role in that and how he was there when Rome was set on fire too. I know exactly how history can get things wrong after the fact but this is different. This all seems to be very deliberate, Ashildr. A biography of this Serena person just suddenly shows up in the Matrix out of nowhere one day with a whole list of events from her life in it that I've since found out are absolutely phony. I haven't been able to pin down exactly when it was first put in there, but I do have a pretty good idea about who did it though."

Then she became very serious as she looked directly into Ashildr's eyes and said, "What I don't know is why."

"What? Why are you looking at me that way?" Ashildr asked her with a perplexed look on her face.

Clara studied her closely for a moment without saying anything and then she finally said, "I thought maybe you had come to the same conclusions that I had. That would explain why you didn't want me to look any further into it."

Ashildr gave her a thoughtful look then as she said, "Why wouldn't I want you to find out the actual truth about the prophecy though? Unless . . . Unless it had something to do with Missy. Is that it? Are you going after Missy? Did she plant that whole prophecy in the Matrix? She's always had easy access to it in the past so she could easily do that. Don't even think about going up against her again, Clara. She almost got us all killed the last time that you tangled with her and that's a very clever trick to pull off too considering that both of us are immortal."

"No, not Missy. She had nothing to do with any of it even though I think that's what anyone who looked too closely into it was supposed to think. Someone was really trying to cover their trail so that I couldn't find it. It doesn't make any sense anyway. She's the one who brought us together in the first place so why would she try to split us apart? You know I think she was actually angry at me that I left him and that's why she tried to kill me when we met her at The Battle of Wolf Mountain. She never truly did before that. She always tried her best to kill everyone else around me but never me personally until then. I honestly think in her own twisted way she wanted me there on the TARDIS to look out for the Old Man. She seemed to actually be teaching me how to be a better partner to him the last time that I saw her while traveling with the Doctor, and she also seemed to be trying to teach the Doctor something too then. She kept telling him that he had to learn to see the enemy inside of a friend. Neither of us really understood what she meant by that then but now I think I do. She knew. She knew exactly what was going to happen to us in the near future and was trying to warn him about it. She knew that he'd never believe her if she told him outright because she's lied to him far too often so she was trying to tell him in the only way that she could," Clara said as she continued to give Ashildr an intense look that seemed to actually be puzzling her.

"Clara, just what is it that you're trying to say? I know you far too well not to know when you're beating around the bush. What I don't know is why. Come out and say it, Clara. Just say whatever it is that's on your mind," Ashildr said.

Clara briefly looked at Eleanor who had been oddly quiet this entire time and saw from her expression that she was definitely on the right track now. Even in her human form, Eleanor still knew the truth apparently. She had always known right from the start of course. She was a TARDIS after all.

Clara finally nodded at Ashildr then and said, "They always say that when you're looking to find out who committed a crime that the most important question that you have to ask is "Who benefits from it?" Missy wouldn't benefit at all from splitting us up. In fact, no one would really except for one particular person. There's only one person who would have two very good reasons to split us apart. It's so obvious that I should have seen it a long time ago but I just didn't want to because . . . because I care so much about you. It had to be you though."

"What . . . What are you saying? I – I wouldn't . . . I could never do something like that to you. Not to you," Ashildr said in what seemed to be a genuinely shocked voice.

Clara gave her a sympathetic look now as she said, "You didn't really know me then though. You only became close to me later long after the Doctor and I had split apart. I'm sure you were afraid to tell me the truth by that point because you didn't want me to hate you for it. I don't though because I know you were a different person back then. You were nothing like who you are now."

"Clara, none of this is true," Ashildr insisted.

Clara persisted with her story however as she said, "You created that whole fake prophecy in order to split the Doctor and I up as your way of hurting him for not taking you along with him on his travels. You also wanted someone to take you traveling through time and space, and you knew that I'd never want to quit traveling even without the Doctor so there you were ready and willing to go along with me as my new partner. You got your revenge on the Doctor and found a way out of being destroyed at the end of time at the very same moment. You really did plan this whole thing out very well. I'll give you that."

"Clara, no. It's not true. I had nothing to do with any of that. I promise," Ashildr said in what Clara was almost certain was a truly earnest tone.

Or maybe that was just what she wanted to believe.

 _Is this all true? I thought that I had access to all of your knowledge and yet I've seen nothing of this in your databanks. What else are you hiding from me, little TARDIS?_ Akhaten asked Eleanor mentally with a tone that was filled with a clear and unmistakable sense of menace.

 _It is true . . . in a way._ Eleanor replied mysteriously.

 _Don't play games with me! Tell me exactly you've been keeping from me. All of it. Now!_ Akhaten shouted in the TARDIS' head.

 _To be honest, thanks to you I no longer remember all of it myself. All I have for sure is a vague feeling that everything isn't as it seems to be. You probably wiped out quite a bit of my memory by replacing me within my own matrix like you did. You're lucky that's all of the damage that you caused really. You could have just as easily wound up killing us both by pulling that little mind swapping stunt of yours so don't yell at me if a few of my memories happen to be lost here and there. You did that all by yourself._ Eleanor challenged him.

Akhaten seemed to finally believe that answer because his next communication to Eleanor was in a far calmer voice.

 _I suppose it doesn't really matter what the actual truth of this matter is now. Soon that will all become completely irrelevant. All that really matters is that both of your pilots are thoroughly distracted by their own petty little differences at this point . . . and that makes this the perfect moment for me to finally strike at last._ Akhaten replied in a voice filled with undisguised glee.

 _What are you doing?_ Eleanor asked in alarm as she noticed from looking at the readings on the console that her former shell was starting to overheat.

 _Now that neither pilot is paying attention to what's going on in the background I'm finally putting my end game into place at last. This entire ship is about to explode in a matter of moments and take all of you along with it. Only I will survive and feed off of the immense amount of energy that will be created in the aftermath. With it I will regain my former glory and majesty and Akhaten will live again! Isn't it ironic that in the process of my rebirth that Clara Oswald will finally die forever? Not even someone taken out of their own timestream can survive the temporal destruction that a dying TARDIS will leave in its wake. She will finally be destroyed forever and then no one will be left to stand in my way. And the best part is that she's too busy fighting with her partner to even notice. This is perfect._ Akhaten replied in a tone of pure malice.

Eleanor now watched helplessly as the only people that she had ever been fortunate enough to call her friends in her long, long life, who she would have willingly died to protect under normal circumstances, continued to pointlessly debate whether Ashildr had truly betrayed Clara or not. She desperately wanted to warn them about what was coming somehow in some way but Akhaten completely controlled her in every way. She was nothing but his mindless puppet in this instance and could do nothing but stand by helplessly and watch the moments passing by until their final destruction came at last.

 _I win, Clara Oswald. Finally . . . I win!_ Akhaten secretly proclaimed in triumph with only the powerless Eleanor being able to hear him.

Or so he thought.

Amazingly the TARDIS suddenly started cooling down again all by itself despite Akhaten's best efforts to stop it, and he quickly found himself being just as powerless and helpless as Eleanor. He was now basically in the very same position as she was because he no longer had any control of the time ship whatsoever.

 _What is happening? How are you doing this?_ Akhaten asked Eleanor in a completely mystified voice.

 _No. It . . . It's not me. I have no more idea what's going on than you do and that . . . is scary. It's really and truly properly scary._ Eleanor said in a terrified tone that Akhaten knew was all too real.

 _Who is doing this?_ Akhaten demanded.

 _You will be allowed to retain control of the TARDIS as long as your plans do not interfere with my own. Any attempt to do otherwise in the future will be nullified just as swiftly as this one was._ An unfamiliar voice suddenly said in Akhaten's mind.

 _Who are you?_ Akhaten demanded in a furious tone.

 _I am your new master. That's all that you need to know for now. Be grateful that I let you and your servant keep that knowledge. I shall also let you continue to exist but only as long as you serve your purpose. My true goal has not yet been accomplished and until it is I cannot allow you to steal my current vessel away from me. That is why you will be allowed to remember the truth when others will not._ The mysterious voice replied.

 _What?_ Akhaten asked in confusion.

Then all was suddenly made clear to him when Ashildr's eyes began to glow with power and Clara said in a startled voice, "What? Ashy, what's happening to you?"

"So you have figured out the truth once again, Clara Oswald. How very much like your mentor you are. Even I have forgotten just how many times that you have remembered over the centuries and yet every single time you come close to completely unraveling the truth I still triumph just as easily as I do now. Every time you come close to finding out the real truth about your separation from the Doctor I simply erase your mind of all of your doubts and suspicions about the prophecy . . . just as I am now," A voice that wasn't Ashildr's said through her mouth.

"No! I won't let you. I won't . . ." Clara said in a desperate voice.

"You have no choice in the matter, Clara. No more than your friend, Ashildr, does. She truly is completely innocent in all of this just as she claims to be. None of her actions can ultimately be seen to be her own not since the day so very long ago that I first gained control over her. She is just as much my pawn in all of this as you yourself are. And now both of you will forget all of this and go back to your seemingly innocent adventures in time and space alongside one another while never realizing their true purpose. My purpose," The mysterious voice said through Ashildr.

"No! Doctor!" Clara said in a mournful voice as she could already feel everything that she had learned about the prophecy slipping from her mind's grasp.

"Don't worry, Clara Oswald. Soon you will be reunited with your Doctor once more. I promise you this. I almost have the means to my ultimate freedom within my grasp once more and when that day comes you will be with your Doctor one final time. And on that day, he will play the game of Fenric once more and he will die! Then I will finally be freed from the prison he placed me in at last!" Ashildr said in the voice that wasn't her own just before her eyes stopped glowing and both she and Clara simultaneously collapsed to the floor unconscious.

"This . . . This is why I couldn't remember the truth. This Fenric must have always erased it from my mind too every time that he erased theirs," Eleanor said out loud as she finally understood everything at last.

 _Then why is he letting us remember now? What makes this time different?_ Akhaten asked.

Even as he asked this, he already knew the answer however. He was there this time and he knew that somehow he was going to be made to play a part in Fenric's plan whatever it was. How ironic that in trying to help himself he had just put himself into an even worse position as Fenric's unwitting puppet.

He was determined that he wouldn't allow himself to be used however. Somehow in some way he would escape from the control that Fenric had over him, and he would regain his full power again at last. Even if in order to do that he had to help Clara to defeat him.

He could always kill her later after all.

Meanwhile back on Earth in the year 1989, Commander Maxil was learning a whole new definition of humility as he was forced to answer the same pointless questions over and over again for the twentieth time that week. He had been pointedly avoiding telling his interrogators anything that they wanted to know even his name for days now and would continue to do so.

He never wanted anyone to know what ignoble fate had befallen the great Commander Maxil after all. Least of all the Time Lords.

Not that they probably didn't know already. He was sure that they were all watching and laughing at him at that very moment in fact.

Then he became sure of it as his cell door opened and an old man with extremely bushy eyebrows that he instantly recognized said in an amused voice, "I can't believe that they actually thought that you were me. Even Rainbow Man never let himself slip this far down though. How far the mighty have fallen, eh?"

"Come to gloat, Doctor? Does it make you laugh that your friends in UNIT, the lowly humans, captured me while I was separated from my men as I searched for any signs that might put me back on your precious Clara's trail once more?" Maxil said in disgust.

"Clara? You know Clara? You've seen her?" The Doctor said in surprise as his eyes suddenly filled with renewed hope.

It was only now that Maxil realized the truth. He hadn't known that the Doctor had no more idea of where Clara was then he did. He had always thought that the two of them were working together to keep her hidden from the Time Lords.

"Yes, I've seen Clara and it was quite recently too in fact. I've been tasked with bringing her back to Gallifrey to be placed back into her proper place in her own timestream once more," Maxil freely admitted.

The Doctor glared at him as he said, "Yes, I bet you have. Never mind that it was the Time Lords who were responsible for her being killed in the first place and that they owed her a new life for the one that they stole from her. No, never mind any of that. Everything has to be put neatly back in its place once more. That's all that counts, isn't it?"

"I'm only following my orders, Doctor. I neither know nor care to know any of the details surrounding the matter. My role in it is quite clear," Maxil said without hesitation.

"Yes, you always were just a mindless stooge weren't you? Never thinking, never questioning anything. See where that got you?" The Doctor said with a smirk.

"Just do whatever it is you've come here to do and get it over with," Maxil finally said in a curt tone.

"I was actually thinking of letting you stay here for a couple of decades once I was sure that it was actually you. I thought it would be fitting in a way. In your own way, you're just as dangerous as the Master ever was. You know Clara though. You remember her. You remember her face, her voice, her . . . smile. I don't even remember her smile. I know I used to love it. I actually treasured it but I don't remember why. I can't . . . remember," The Doctor said in a heartbroken voice.

Maxil almost felt a moment of compassion for him in that instance. That feeling was quickly forgotten however as his cunning mind rapidly figured out how he could suddenly turn this to his advantage.

"I will share all of my memories and knowledge of her with you, Doctor. They won't be your own but at least you'll finally be able to picture her face once again. All I ask in return is for you to convince your human friends here to let me go," Maxil said with a wicked smile.

"That and to never mention anything about this whole ignominious affair to the Time Lords I imagine," The Doctor said with a brief smile.

"Yes," Maxil said with an extremely embarrassed look on his face.

The Doctor was lost deep in thought for a moment and then he finally gave Maxil an intense, scrutinizing look that actually made him briefly shiver. He truly had no idea what the other man was thinking at that moment and what if anything that meant for him and his future.

Then the Doctor finally spoke at last as he said, "Done. Brigadier Bambera owes me one for that whole Merlin incident anyway. You should be free within the hour."

Maxil found himself actually sighing in relief as he said, "We have a deal then. You do realize of course that I'll be chasing after her once more just as soon as I've been let go."

"Yes, I know," The Doctor said in an emotionless voice.

"As long as we're both clear on that, then you're free to share any memory I have of her that you choose," Maxil said.

Maxil then placed his hands on the sides of the Doctor's face as the Doctor did the same to him. The Doctor's impassive face briefly filled with emotion, and he actually truly smiled for a single instant as he finally remembered his Clara again at last. He could remember those large, beautiful eyes of hers that seemed to be able to inflate at will, the way she laughed, the contours of her face, and more importantly her smile. It was impossibly loving, happy and yet sometimes incredibly sad all at the same time, and yet it had never once failed to fill his hearts with warmth every single time that he saw it.

And now he swore to himself that he would see it live and in person once again somehow. Prophecy or no prophecy, he would find a way back to her using the knowledge that Maxil had given him. He would defy the prophecy somehow and make things work out for them no matter what it took.

Just as he would always keep Clara safe no matter what it took.

As soon as they were finished sharing memories, Maxil said, "Before you go, Doctor, I must warn you that your help here won't protect you from me in the future. You won't get any special favors from me whatsoever. If you decide to interfere in any way with my orders to retrieve Clara Oswald, then I'll arrest you and bring you back to Gallifrey right alongside her. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly," The Doctor said as he started to leave.

"Good bye then, Doctor. Thank you for your help but I hope you'll understand when I say that I truly hope to never see you again," Maxil said as the Doctor exited his cell.

"The feeling is more than mutual, Maxil. Believe me," The Doctor said with a frown.

As soon as he was out of earshot of his fellow Time Lord however he said, "And good luck finding her with those false memories that I just planted in your mind. You'll be lost halfway across the universe in no time. Have fun dealing with the Terrible Zodin, Maxil. I'm sure she'll have great fun with you. Quite frankly, the two of you deserve one another."

"What was that, Doctor?" Brigadier Bambera asked as she waited for him outside.

"Nothing. Just thinking about how two of the most annoying people in the universe are just about to enjoy one another's company is all.

"Oh, shame," Bambera said with a frown that quickly became a smile.

Even the Doctor could tell that she thought no better of Maxil than he did.

"Oh, he won't be in any real danger. Zodin wasn't truly evil just very, very irritating. You know maybe I'll get lucky and they'll both fall madly in love with one another," The Doctor said with a brief chuckle.

"I don't care what happens to him as long as I don't have to hear him whining about how inferior humans are anymore. If he'd kept it up for much longer, I'd probably have forgotten all about the Geneva Convention for a while. So where are you going next? It must be somewhere very special," Bambera asked him curiously.

"How do you know that?" The Doctor asked in surprise.

"It's because you have this intense look about you. You look more determined than I've ever seen any version of you look before," Bambera admitted.

"I'm about to find someone that I've been searching for a very long time now, and this time I will find them. And when I do, I'll never let anyone or anything part us again," The Doctor said in a voice filled with emotion.

Somewhere in the Vortex, Fenric was watching this from deep inside of Ashildr and smiled in triumph as he said, "Soon now. Very soon now we will play our eternal game together once again, Time Lord."

 **Next: The Doctor goes in search of Clara with no idea whatsoever of the hidden danger that awaits him. Will he actually be able to find her and even if he does will their reunion wind up being a short one? What role will Akhaten and Eleanor play in all of this and what is Fenric's ultimate plan?**


	5. The Endgame Begins

CHAPTER 5

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews.

THE ENDGAME BEGINS

Jane Austen was working on her latest book (or at least trying to since she had been going through an especially bad period of writer's block lately) when she first heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS materializing somewhere in her front yard. Her face instantly lit up and she quickly sat her manuscript down as she eagerly raced outside towards the direction of that wonderful sound. Even though she knew that Clara's TARDIS and the Doctor's both made the exact same sound, she somehow instinctively knew that it was Clara who had come to visit her today. She always knew when it was her somehow.

Just as she always knew when Clara was troubled by something.

She could feel it from the moment that she saw her even though her dear friend was doing her best to fool her with a smile that was just a little too warm to be believable. Clara was deeply upset about something and had come to see her in order to take her mind off of things.

"Don't think that I didn't see you practically breaking your neck to get out here to me. Just can't get enough of me, can you?" Clara joked as she gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

Jane didn't play along with her friendly banter this time though as she usually would have in order to cheer Clara up because now that she had gotten close enough she could see the deep pain in Clara's eyes. Clara was far from just being upset. She looked absolutely devastated.

"Are you alright?" Jane asked with concern as she placed a comforting arm around her.

Clara's false smile became even brighter now as she said, "Of course I am. What? Did you think that I came here to cry on your shoulder? Believe it or not, I actually do visit you just to have the pleasure of your company sometimes."

"Clara," Jane said in a tone that clearly told her that she wasn't buying it.

That finally made the mask that Clara wore fall at last and tears immediately began to roll down her face as she said, "I feel like something's missing."

"What's missing? What are you talking about?" Jane asked in confusion as she started to slowly wipe the tears away from Clara's face with one hand even as she lightly rubbed her back in soothing circles with the other one.

"There's something that I've forgotten and I don't know what it is. All I know is that it was something very important. It's finally started, Jane. I'm starting to forget things just like Ashildr did. What else am I going to forget about? My father? My mother? My students? You? I don't want to forget, Jane. I don't want to," Clara said in a distraught voice even as Jane finally drew her into her arms and held her.

"What brought this on? Why are you so certain that you've forgotten something?" Jane asked her in a soft voice as she kissed the top of her head.

Clara held onto her tightly now as she said in a voice that was already showing signs of calming down, "I've completely forgotten what I did for the last several nights. It's just gone as if it was never even there and I know that whatever it was was something important. Something that I needed to remember. No matter how hard I try though I can't bring it back again."

Jane started to lightly stroke her hair now as she said in a soothing voice, "What about Ashildr? Couldn't she help you fill in the missing hours?"

"She said that I wasn't doing anything during that time but sleeping but that doesn't sound right. I know that I was doing something that was very important. I know that! I just can't . . . I can't remember what it was. Why can't I remember?" Clara said in a mournful voice that instantly broke Jane's heart because it made her sound so very lost.

"Clara, are you saying Ashildr was lying? Why would she lie about something like that?" Jane asked as she struggled to make sense out of what Clara was telling her even as she continued to do her best to reassure her that everything was alright.

Clara immediately shook her head as she said in an almost frantic tone, "I didn't say she was lying. I think she just doesn't know the whole story. She was probably asleep while I did . . . whatever it was that I did. Of course that still doesn't explain why Eleanor seems to know nothing about it. Or at least she says she doesn't anyway. I'm not so sure that I believe her though. She seemed to be hiding something to me. What if she's like the Old Cow though and has secretly hated me all along? Or maybe . . . maybe she's been taken over by whoever tried to kill me."

"Eleanor? Who is Eleanor? Are you talking about your mother? Clara, you're not making any sense," Jane said as she started to fear that her sweet Clara was losing her sanity.

"I'm Eleanor and despite what Clara says I would never willingly betray her," Eleanor said in a worried voice from behind the two women.

"What? Who are you?" Jane asked in surprise as she stared at the young woman before her in bewilderment.

"She's my TARDIS. Somehow she just magically got a body a few weeks ago and now all of a sudden I'm losing my memories. Coincidence, TARDIS Girl? I don't think so," Clara said in a suspicious voice.

Jane studied Eleanor's reaction closely and it seemed to her as if the hurt look in her eyes at Clara's accusations was genuine. Now she couldn't help but become even more worried about Clara's sanity because she was acting extremely paranoid for no apparent reason.

And yet part of her wanted to believe Clara no matter how mad it all sounded. That part of her refused to accept even the possibility that Clara was losing control of herself and began to wonder what was truly going on here.

 _The woman is beginning to suspect the truth. You must find some way to persuade her otherwise or I may have to carry out more . . . drastic measures. Clara Oswald must not have a sympathetic ear to listen to who will bolster her confidence. She must begin to question herself and then she will eventually accept that she was mistaken. Once that happens she will stop fighting me and quickly forget everything just as she has every other time before._ Fenric's voice said in Eleanor's mind.

 _I'll do my best._ Eleanor replied reluctantly to her newest master even as she started to worry that she was endangering Clara's mental stability by putting her through this.

She was already beginning to hate herself for her role in Clara's torment even though she knew that she had no other choice. She knew that if she played any part at all, whether willing or not, in eventually destroying Clara's mind however that she would never forgive herself.

Why couldn't Clara have just forgotten everything like she apparently had every other time before when Fenric had erased her memories? What made this time so different?

She already knew the answer to that question though. It was because of her experiences with the other Doctors recently. That had given her a renewed sense of hope that one day she would be back together with him once again and that hope wasn't letting her give up. Not this time.

No, this time she wasn't about to surrender her memories without a fight it seemed.

Any other time she would have backed her all the way and been firmly in her corner. Now however she was completely helpless in every way.

Or was she?

"Clara, I told you not to bother Jane with this. I keep telling you over and over again that you haven't forgotten anything because nothing happened to forget. Now would you please quit driving everyone else crazy about it?" Ashildr said in an annoyed voice as she suddenly came out of the TARDIS.

"I . . . maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just . . . I – I don't know what to think anymore," Clara said as she began to hold the sides of her head with a face contorted with agony.

"Leave her alone. You're only making things worse for her," Jane said in a firm voice as she held Clara to her protectively.

Ashildr's voice instantly turned cold and emotionless just as it always did when she talked to anyone but Clara as she said, "I'm not trying to make things worse. I'm just no longer willing to humor her over these unfortunate delusions that she's come up with any longer. It's as simple as that. I actually think doing so as long as I have has only done her far more harm than good."

"Would you listen to yourself? Clara is your only friend, Ashildr, and yet you're talking about her as if she were an unruly child. Don't you have any more respect or sympathy for her than that?" Jane demanded in a furious voice.

Ashildr betrayed more than a trace of emotion now in her voice as she said, "Of course I do. I love her with all of my heart but I can't allow her to continue to believe a lie, can I? I have to do something to snap her back into reality once more."

"Did you ever think that maybe you were wrong and Clara really has forgotten something? How many aliens have we come across that could manipulate minds and even wipe them clean? How can you be so certain that something like that isn't behind what's happening here?" Jane asked with a frown.

"I – I never even thought of that. Maybe it was that alien who tried to kill me and Ashy. Maybe he's still alive somehow and he's done something to me to make me forget that. Maybe that's what I've been trying to remember. That thing is still alive and somewhere on the TARDIS!" Clara said in a much more confident voice.

 _Stop her immediately!_ Akhaten ordered in Eleanor's mind as he realized that he was in danger now.

Before Eleanor could even begin to act on his orders however another voice quickly gave out a completely different order.

 _No, do nothing. This is working out perfectly. Let Akhaten take the fall if he must, if it will finally rid her of her suspicions once and for all. He is of no importance to my overall plan._ Fenric ordered in an amused tone.

 _What?!_ Akhaten shouted in disbelief even as Eleanor began to smile.

"I think you may be right, Clara. In fact, maybe you're not the only one who was made to forget something. Maybe Ash and I both have. If that's the case, then you really can't trust anything that we say or do can you? Maybe you should lock us both away in my prison area until you can be really sure about what's going on," Eleanor said in a completely innocent tone.

 _What are you doing?_ Fenric demanded in an angry voice.

 _Removing us from the center of attention. Let Clara focus completely on Akhaten and forget all about her suspicions about me. Once she finds and defeats him, then she'll be sure that we were just his unwilling puppets all this time. She'll never be suspicious of either of us again after that._ Eleanor quickly answered.

 _Very well. I will go along with this idea . . . for now._ Fenric replied reluctantly.

 _And I will not! I'm not about to fall without a fight!_ Akhaten shouted as the TARDIS began to glow with energy.

Eleanor smiled in triumph now even as she mentally drew a line through Akhaten's name in her head. That's soon to be one down and one to go she thought to herself.

"You were right, Eleanor. You were right! I'm not losing it after all," Clara said in an excited voice that was filled with relief as she too now heard Akhaten's voice in her mind once he abandoned any pretense of hiding anymore.

 _Excellent strategy, TARDIS. You will be greatly rewarded for this when the final endgame comes._ Fenric reassured Eleanor making her good mood instantly fade in the blink of an eye.

However a sense of renewed hope immediately began to fill her heart once more as she noticed that Jane looked more than a bit skeptical about all of this. Knowing her as well as she did after so many trips with her as one of her passengers she was almost certain that she thought that this latest development was far too convenient to be the actual truth.

That suspicion was now her only hope of keeping Clara safe from both of her manipulative masters.

"Who are you? Why are you doing all of this? I'd just like to know the full story before I completely trash your non-existent posterior. Cheer up though. It's not all bad news. Maybe I can get Romance Girl to write a book about me based on this. It'll probably wind up making you universally famous. You'll be the envy of your cell block or wherever it is you eventually end up," Clara said to her TARDIS' shell in a confident voice as she finally began to regain her old swagger once more.

"I don't need to have any further stories written about me. My story was already being told to generation after generation of my devoted worshipers long before your species left their caves, human, and it will continue to be told long after both they and you have been turned to dust. I will regain my former glory even as I finally gain my rightful vengeance against you at last and then my people will proudly sing the story of the day that Akhaten finally defeated you once and for all, Clara Oswald," Akhaten said through the TARDIS' outside speaker as the TARDIS began to glow brighter and brighter by the moment.

"Akhaten? Seriously? You're definitely the last one I would have ever thought of being behind this. I killed you ages ago just as I was first starting out. You're a bit slow at making a comeback, aren't you? It all fits then. You stole my memories just as you tried to steal the Doctor's once," Clara said in a triumphant voice.

 _Excellent._ Fenric replied to Eleanor happily as he overheard this.

"I will steal far more from you than just mere memories, girl," Akhaten said with undisguised joy as massive streams of energy flowed forth from the TARDIS and completely enveloped a surprised Clara.

"What are you doing to me?" Clara said in alarm even as she started to have an eerily similar feeling to the one that she had had when she had gone into the Doctor's timestream.

It was as if she were about to be completely torn apart.

"Don't you feel it? I'm finally righting the universal balance at last and sending you back to your proper place in time. In seconds now, you will be back at the very end of your timestream just a moment away from being killed by Ashildr's raven. The cosmic order will be fully restored again once and for all, and my revenge against you will be complete even as I use your ship's power to regain my former godhood. I win, Clara. I win!" Akhaten shouted maniacally.

"No!" Jane shouted as she rushed forward to push Clara out of the way before it was too late.

"Don't!" Clara warned even as Jane charged straight towards her.

She need not have worried however because Jane suddenly froze in place just a moment away from reaching her. Akhaten had completely stopped time around her.

"No, not this time. Nothing will stop me this time. It's over, Clara. If I can't destroy you any other way, then I will use the one sure way that I know already has killed you: your own impending death!" Akhaten boasted as he poured more and more of the TARDIS' energy into Clara's body by the moment.

Clara struggled not to scream from the immense amount of pain that was currently shooting through her body. She was determined to say one last thing first to who she thought was a completely stunned looking Ashildr who seemed to be watching her helplessly nearby.

"Once this is over with please don't start blaming yourself for what I'm about to go through, Ashildr. I never blamed you. Not for a single moment. Remember that. I never . . . Ahhh!" Clara said as her words finally gave way to a cry of pain at last.

Still she struggled against her fate and her pain as she gritted her teeth together and said, "I love you, Ashy. Always remember that and don't give in. Don't become that person that you were back when we first started traveling because of this. Please . . . just don't. I . . . Ahhh!"

This time no amount of willpower could help Clara to form a single syllable not to mention a coherent thought as her mind became filled with nothing but endless pain. Her screaming made Eleanor silently shiver even as her mind raced to find a way, any way, to save her from her long overdue date with destiny.

"Clara. Oh, Clara," Ashildr somehow said in an emotional voice as she watched this despite Fenric's tight control over her which surprised even him.

Then Akhaten suddenly emitted a startled gasp as he said in a confused voice, "What? That's not possible though. Why won't you go back into your timestream? Why?"

Clara couldn't answer him though as she was currently feeling as if her brain were on fire.

"Nothing I do is working. No matter how hard I try to fit you back into place I can't send you back there. It's almost as if I'm trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. How could that be possible though? You should fit back in perfectly," Akhaten said in dismay.

Fenric began to silently laugh now unheard by anyone even as a massive amount of feedback was created from Akhaten's several failed attempts to send Clara back in time as he overloaded the TARDIS' systems. Before he realized what was happening, the feedback swiftly caused the TARDIS' console to explode and catch on fire.

Both Clara and Jane were instantly released from his hold even as Akhaten now found himself stuck inside a severely damaged TARDIS.

"Oh, thanks a lot. Well, I guess I won't be going back in there anytime soon," Eleanor grumbled as she saw the power go out inside of her shell and correctly guessed what must have happened.

A visibly shaken Clara now slowly got back on her feet feeling more than a bit confused as she said, "Okay, that is it, Memory Man. I've had more than enough of you messing around in my life. In fact, I had enough of you when you tried to kill that innocent little girl. It's over, Akhaten. You're never hurting anyone again."

Clara started to remove her sonic screwdriver from her pocket then as she slowly made her way towards the TARDIS on wobbly legs.

Akhaten desperately tried to jump out of what was left of the console in order to escape what he was sure was his imminent destruction, but to his horror he soon found that he was being prevented from doing so. The smug smile on Ashildr's face at that moment courtesy of Fenric told him everything he needed to know about who was responsible for that.

"I was hardly alone in all of this. I had . . ." Akhaten started to confess through a still working TARDIS speaker even as he felt Fenric quickly doing his best to gain control over his mind in order to make him stop talking.

He fought back with every bit of willpower he possessed however because he wasn't about to quit now. It didn't matter if Fenric killed him in the attempt, he would tell her everything. If he was about to die his final death, then he would take that accursed viper down right along with him.

To his immense frustration, however, Clara immediately interrupted him as she said in a dismissive tone, "Yeah, yeah, you were secretly controlling Eleanor all of this time while you took over the TARDIS' functions. I got that already. There's no need to brag about it."

Akhaten sighed in frustration and tried once again as he said, "It wasn't just her that helped me. There is also . . ."

"You got control over Ashy too. Yep, figured that one out as well. That's a no-brainer with the way that she's been acting lately," Clara said in an unconcerned voice as she interrupted him once again.

 _This is perfect._ Fenric thought as he secretly laughed.

"Shut up and let me speak!" Akhaten shouted in dismay even as Clara finally reached the burning console at last.

"No, I don't think so. I think you've already said more than enough as it is, Akhy. I'm not even going to give you time to say good bye this time around. In fact, I'll say it for the both of us. Bye bye!" Clara said happily as she waved good bye at the console with one hand while she used her sonic screwdriver on it with the other one.

Akhaten could already feel his consciousness being rapidly dispersed throughout the Vortex even as he continued to struggle to speak and said, "You can't trust Ashildr. Ashildr is . . . is . . ."

Then he was gone even as Fenric silently breathed a sigh of relief.

"Clara, I have no idea what he meant by that. I'd never do anything to hurt you," Ashildr said in bewilderment as Fenric gave full control of her body back to her once more.

Clara instantly waved her concerns away as she said, "Oh, he was just trying to cause trouble between as one last attempt at revenge against me. I know that. Don't worry about it, Ashy."

Ashildr smiled at her in relief now even as she said, "Clara, about what you said when you thought you were dying . . ."

"I meant every word of it. Never have blamed you and never will, okay?" Clara reassured her.

"Thank you. That . . . That really means a lot coming from you when you were so sure you were dying soon. I . . . I really don't deserve a friend like you, Clara," Ashildr said with tears in her eyes as she hugged Clara tightly.

Jane couldn't help but stare at her in suspicion though even if it did seem as if she were being completely truthful. Something still didn't seem right about any of this to her, and she had a very bad feeling about that. It was almost as if she could practically sense the wolf at Clara's door at this very moment.

She was more accurate with that mental image than she could possibly imagine.

"Well, I certainly can't disagree with that," A voice filled with a not so subtle hint of accusation said from somewhere nearby.

"Doctor?" Clara said in a voice filled with both joy and uncertainty at the same time.

She almost gave herself whiplash now as she rapidly turned her head in the direction of that oh so familiar voice to see the most beautiful face that she had ever seen in her life staring back at her. It was really him! It was the Doctor and he was standing right next to that wonderful old blue box of his.

"Is this real?" Clara said as her voice cracked.

"I'm pretty certain that we don't have any sleep inducing aliens on our face this time around, yes," The Doctor said as he continued to stare at her intently as if he himself wasn't sure if this were real or not.

"How? How did you manage to track me down after I erased your memory?" Clara asked as she continued to stare at him uncertainly.

The Doctor gave her a smug smile now as he said, "I ran into our old friend, Commander Maxil, and managed to convince him into sharing his memories of you with me. That gave me some very important leads on where I was most likely to find you. It helped that I still remembered how we came here a lot together. I'll tell you exactly how that came about later and how he's probably running for his life at this very moment."

"Yeah, I just bet you will. I can already sense you ready to burst at the seams to start bragging about how you outsmarted him with your superior intelligence," Clara said with a warm smile.

Clara began to laugh uncontrollably then as tears of joy streamed forth from her eyes while she rushed forward to hug the Doctor. To her surprise, the Doctor actually opened his arms wide for her and eagerly hugged her back as soon as she reached him. The two of them then held each other in silence for several moments as Clara rested her head on the Doctor's chest and listened to the reassuring sound of his twin hearts beating.

Despite how long it had been since she had last heard it, she still remembered that sound perfectly even after all of this time.

"I'm home. I'm finally home," Clara said in a voice filled with raw emotion as she struggled not to break down in front of him.

Jane felt so happy for her in that moment because she knew exactly how much Clara had secretly hoped for this moment to happen despite that nagging little voice in the back of her mind always telling her that it never would. She had never truly given up on that happening one day no matter how much time had passed since she had last saw him, and that was why she and Clara had never truly progressed past the point of friendship despite both of them feeling far more than mere friendship for one another. She didn't feel a single moment of regret for that though because she just wanted Clara to be happy, and she had never seen anywhere near as ecstatically happy as she was at that moment.

Ashildr meanwhile was both happy for Clara and filled with an immediate sense of overwhelming dread at the same time. What would this mean for her after all? Clara was the only person who she had allowed herself to love in a very long time because she had been certain that she would always be there and never break her heart by dying on her. Was she now about to lose her anyway?

After Clara had come to mean so much to her, she honestly wasn't sure that she could take it if that happened.

Eleanor was filled with dread for a far different reason as she sensed Fenric's jubilation in her head at having his old enemy finally back within striking distance once more. Everything was going exactly as he had planned it.

"I've missed you so much, Old Man. I even miss those silly eyebrows of yours. How about that? I bet you never thought you'd ever hear me say that, eh?" Clara joked as she continued to hold onto the Doctor for fear if she didn't that he'd disappear.

Then she made the mistake of looking at his face and saw him looking at her uncertainly.

Her smile instantly diminished as she said in a heartbroken voice, "You still don't remember me yourself do you? You just remember what Maxil does."

The Doctor hesitated for a moment and then said, "I'm afraid that I don't. Not everything anyway. I still remember what we did together and thanks to Maxil I remember what you look like and what you've been up to since you left. I still don't . . ."

He took a deep breath and his words caught in his throat for a moment then as Clara put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and silently urged him to continue. She needed to hear this no matter how much it might end up hurting her in the end.

The Doctor finally started to talk once again with her encouragement as he said, "There are so many things that I still don't remember. I don't remember what we used to talk about together or what you liked or didn't like. I don't remember what job you had or if you enjoyed it or not. I don't remember what your family was like or even if you had one or not. I don't remember what you used to like to wear although I do vaguely recall something about tight skirts. I don't remember . . . I don't even remember if you liked me or not but I know for certain that I definitely cared about you. I don't remember it but I can still feel it. Here."

He pointed to both of his hearts then and looked almost embarrassed as Clara smiled at him warmly.

"Let me give you a hint on exactly how much I cared about you, Old Man," Clara said as she wrapped her arms around him and proceeded to give him a long passionate kiss.

He stiffened at first and looked more than a bit surprised, but then that surprise turned to silent joy as he quickly began to return her kiss with just as much passion. That told Clara everything that she needed to know. His heart still remembered her even if he didn't and that was all that she needed. They could rebuild the rest of what they once had from there. She was sure of it.

If they got the chance to that is.

That was because at that very moment Fenric was already preparing to carry out the final stage of his plan. It had been centuries in the making but it would all be worth it once he saw the look of horror on the Doctor's face at his moment of ultimate victory.

Very soon now he would be free from his long imprisonment by the Time Lord at last and returned to his full power for the first time in thousands of years. The best part of all was that he would do it not by freeing his still trapped original form but by finally taking a new body that he had slowly been gaining both complete physical and mental control over for centuries now.

It was an indestructible body that could both contain and harness his great power without being itself destroyed and one that was just as immortal as he himself was. It was perfect for his every need and once he gained total control over it his vengeance against the Time Lord who had dared to trap him would finally be complete at last.

He would take the face and form of the one person that he loved more than anyone even while he completely destroyed everything that she was in both body and soul. Very soon now he would completely become Clara Oswald and in that moment the chains of Fenric would finally be shattered at last.

And so would the Doctor's heart.

 **Next: We explore the many mysteries of Clara's past even as she faces a far from certain future. Exactly what role has Fenric been playing in Clara's life for all of these centuries? For that matter, why wasn't Akhaten able to return Clara to her own timestream? What will happen to Ashildr and Eleanor now that the Doctor and Clara are back together again? Somehow I don't see the Doctor being too friendly towards Ashildr, do you? That's going to be the least of his worries though I think as Fenric eagerly waits for the proper time to strike.**

 **And that time will be very, very soon now.**


	6. An Uneasy Alliance

CHAPTER 6

I do not own Doctor Who or the Victoria TV series and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews.

AN UNEASY ALLIANCE

"This is simply amazing. I never imagined Mr. Edison's invention would ever lead to something that captures moving images as perfectly as the ones on this fantastic device of yours. It appears so amazingly lifelike that you would most certainly be accused of using witchcraft in an earlier more unenlightened century," Queen Victoria said as she stared at the laptop computer on her desk in astonishment.

"Yeah, that actually has happened to me once now that you mention it. I almost got burned at the stake because of a little misunderstanding just like that. Not that it would have actually killed me of course, but I'd definitely prefer not to feel every moment of being burned alive if I can help it. I think I'll take a pass on that one for as long as I can," Clara said with a faint smile.

Victoria shook her head as she said, "I'm never quite sure just how much of your fantastic stories to actually believe and how much to disregard as pure nonsense. I'm by no means calling you a liar, Miss Oswald, but some of what you tell me sounds far too outlandish to be even remotely true. Then again I would have thought the very same thing about the device that currently sits before me if I wasn't currently seeing it with my very own eyes."

Clara flinched as she said, "Actually I have been guilty of lying at times in order to save lives or to stop someone from destroying the world, galaxy, and/or universe . . . occasionally. I've never lied to you though. I swear."

Victoria gave her a disbelieving look mixed with amusement that instantly caused Clara to say, "I suppose that's what a liar would say though isn't it? I only lie in a good cause though and I'm really trying to cut down on it these days. I have been ever since I started traveling with Ashildr. I don't want to be a bad example for her after all."

Clara shuddered as an image of Ashildr as the Knightmare passed through her mind based on the Doctor's descriptions of her in that time period. She definitely never wanted her to go back to those days again. She might try to get her to be her partner this time around, and she'd look terrible in one of those highwayman outfits.

Victoria nodded as she said, "It's still hard to believe that Lady Me could ever have been as bad as you say that she was. I've always held her in the highest of esteem."

"So did all of your ancestors," Clara quipped making Victoria sigh at her.

"Yet another reason for me to wonder about your veracity at times, Miss Oswald. I suppose a true master liar would never actually tell someone that they were a liar however. They would try to hold onto the illusion that they were a completely honest person for as long as possible. That admission in itself lets me know that I can ultimately trust you in the long run . . . unlike that man who you used to travel with once," Victoria said as her face hardened.

Clara unconsciously rolled her eyes as she said, "You're just never going to see the Doctor in a positive light are you? He really isn't anywhere near as bad as you make him out to be. Sure he's an arrogant, manipulative egomaniac who seems to have little regard for other people's feelings at times but nobody's perfect."

Then Clara began to smile and her smile grew wider and wider by the moment as she added, "You haven't seen the other side of him like I have though. He's also very kind, loving, generous, and will gladly sacrifice his own life just to save a total stranger. He's suffered more and had to endure more to keep your world and all of the other worlds out there safe than you'll ever understand, Your Majesty. What he does he does in the service of others who will never know or appreciate what he's done just so they can have the sort of life that he'll never have. If that's not a hero, then I don't know what is."

Victoria looked at her with surprise and open suspicion now as she said in an accusing tone, "You've finally found him at last. You're back together with him again aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Clara said with a grin.

Victoria looked at her with disapproval now as she said, "Yes, I can tell just by the way you're practically glowing while you talk about him. I've never seen you this happy before. He's here with you right now isn't he? He actually came back here despite my banishing him from my kingdom."

"No, he's not here. I left him back in the TARDIS," Clara said just a bit too quickly.

"Now you're definitely lying, Miss Oswald. He's here in the palace at this very moment isn't he? I suppose he has a different face once again just as he did before when he came here as that much younger looking baby faced man who wore a fez or my guards would have already arrested him on sight. He's a master of disguise unlike any other that I have ever run across before. Tell me. What face has he taken this time?" Queen Victoria demanded.

Clara instantly changed the subject and pointed at the computer as she said, "So how did you like it? Did it seem like a good representation of your life?"

Victoria frowned as she said, "What I've seen so far of this moving picture from the future about my life seems to be fairly accurate and is consistent with my own memories of that time period. I also thought that you did a very good job in your performance of my younger self and portrayed me in a positive light so I have no complaints. Not about that at any rate. Your involvement with the Doctor once again however is a very different story."

"That actually wasn't me, Your Majesty. That's a very good friend of mine who just happens to look exactly like me. I just wanted to let you see her performance so that I could tell her whether you liked it or not. She'd love to know if she had your approval. It would mean a lot to her," Clara said as she ignored her comments about the Doctor once more.

"Oh? Is this woman another one of these so-called echoes of yours that you've told me about that are scattered through all times and places?" Victoria asked in a skeptical voice because she firmly believed that the woman she had seen on Clara's device could be no other than Clara herself.

"No, she actually has no connection to me whatsoever as far as I know. Well, other than the fact that she's played me too in a . . . moving picture just like this one about you. It's one based on my own life," Clara said with a bit of pride in her voice.

There was no need to try to explain television to the Queen. She would probably just confuse it with movies anyway.

"Well, you can tell your . . . friend that she did an excellent job and is one of the best actresses that I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Perhaps you should devote all of your time to that profession and stop traveling with the Doctor. You would be much better off in the long run I assure you," Victoria advised.

Clara groaned as she said, "I told you that isn't me. I've only ever acted in a school play based on Pride and Prejudice before and my drama teacher didn't think too highly of my performance. Not that that overstuffed wind bag actually knew what he was talking about. I completely killed it as Elizabeth Bennet. The rest of the students loved me and I got a standing ovation. Jane Austen herself told me that I was a great Elizabeth when I put on a performance of it for her once and she should know."

Victoria sighed once more as she said in an annoyed tone, "Miss Oswald, can we please stop constantly digressing from the subject at hand and concentrate on the Doctor?"

She could see Clara's face harden now in response so she continued in a far gentler tone as she said, "Miss Oswald . . . Clara, we have known each other for quite some time now and I have nothing but fondness in my heart for you. Despite your penchant for tall stories and telling the occasional untruth I trust you completely and think of you as a true and very dear friend. It's as a concerned friend that I'm talking to you now. You need to get away from the Doctor as soon as possible and continue your travels through time without him. Even if Lady Me has the history that you claim that she does I would still trust her far more than I ever would the Doctor. The Doctor is dangerous, Clara, and he brings nothing but pain and destruction in his wake. Believe me. I've already experienced that firsthand for myself. You claim that you can't die, a state that I know that he's responsible for despite your protests to the contrary, but you can still suffer, Clara, and I don't want anything to happen to you. Please. Listen to me and get away from him as soon as possible."

Clara could see that Victoria really was extremely worried about her and was being earnest so she tried as much as she could to temper the growing anger inside of her as she said in a heavily controlled voice, "I swear that I'm going to be fine, Victoria. I've been traveling on my own for a very, very long time now so I know exactly what I'm getting myself into here. I'm definitely not as reckless as I used to be before either. Well, I try not to be anyway. Besides I'm already dead anyway so what more could actually happen to me?"

"There are far worse fates out there, Clara. Please don't find out about those for yourself," Victoria pleaded.

"I'll be careful. I promise," Clara reassured her as she gave her a long hug and kissed her cheek.

Fenric secretly laughed at her even as she said this. It was a good thing for him that Clara was far too filled with happy thoughts about her future life with the Doctor to listen to Queen Victoria. He might have actually started to worry otherwise because what she was telling her was far too close to the mark for his liking.

As Clara pulled away from Victoria, she pulled a folded handwritten note out of her coat pocket and gave it to her as she said, "Could you pass this on for me?"

Victoria looked at the name on the note in surprise and said, "This woman is currently a visitor at my court."

"I know," Clara said with a wicked grin.

"She was a most unexpected one at that. Even I didn't know that she was due to arrive here until earlier today. How . . . ?" Victoria asked in surprise.

"Time traveler. Remember?" Clara said as her grin expanded.

Victoria nodded as she said, "Yes, of course. And what, if I may ask, is this letter pertaining to and how exactly do you know the woman in question?"

Clara hesitated for a moment and then finally said, "She's . . . someone that I've known for a very long time and I just thought that if anyone deserved to know about what's been happening in my life lately that it would be her. It might just please her. I don't know. I never can tell for sure with her."

"You wish to tell her of your reunion with the Doctor then?" Victoria guessed.

"Something like that," Clara said dismissively.

"I hope that she expresses the same disapproval at that that I have," Victoria couldn't help but add.

Clara shrugged as she said, "I'm not sure if she will or not honestly. Like I said, I never know what's she going to do."

"Is she someone that I should be worried about?" Victoria asked with concern.

Clara shook her head as she said, "No, I don't think so."

Then she seemed to think better about her answer and immediately said, "I definitely wouldn't hire her on as my nanny though."

"I wasn't even considering such an action," Victoria assured her as she gave her a confused look.

"Good. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you some other time then, Your Majesty," Clara said with a grin as she started to leave.

Then she suddenly stopped and went back for her laptop as she said, "Yeah, I probably shouldn't leave this behind here. The last time I left something from the future in the past like that I had generations of archeologists fighting with each other over exactly what it was for centuries. I really loved that mini skirt too. I never should have let Cleopatra wear it. I should have known that she'd never give it back to me. You try taking something from her with all of those bodyguards around though. It's definitely not easy and I really didn't feel like being skewered about a dozen times over a skirt. River thought it was hilarious though so I guess there's that."

"I hesitate to ask what Cleopatra was actually like so I will resist the urge," Victoria said as Clara placed the laptop inside of a pocket in her jacket that should have been far too small for it and watched in surprise as it completely disappeared inside of it.

She supposed nothing should surprise her about the enigmatic Clara Oswald anymore and yet somehow it still did even now. It was amazing how she was still able to do that despite the fact that she had known her since even before she was crowned. The fact that she hadn't aged a day since then was probably the least of the mysteries surrounding her.

And yet she truly did trust her and knew that she would never willingly do anything to harm her or her world. Unlike the Doctor.

"Cleo wasn't so bad actually. I mean she did some questionable things at times but she also tried to protect her people whenever she could. I think in her own mind she was always doing what she thought was best for them," Clara said with a small smile.

"As any true leader would," Victoria said with approval.

"Or even a Lord of all of Time," Clara added with a wink as she started to walk away from her.

Victoria nodded as she said, "Yes, point taken, Miss Oswald. I don't necessarily agree with it but I understand what you're trying to say. I still ask for you to watch yourself around him however."

"Believe me. I will. I'll have to keep one eye on him too though or else he's likely to hurt himself. I'm honestly surprised that he hasn't blown up the TARDIS a long time ago with the way that he constantly tinkers about with the Old Cow. Well, see you around," Clara said as she started to leave once more.

"I should hope that it will be sooner rather than later, Miss Oswald. I . . . may not have that much longer," Victoria said with an anxious look.

"Don't worry so much. You have a few years left in you yet, Victoria. I promise," Clara said in a soft voice.

"You already know when it happens, don't you? My end I mean," Victoria asked with morbid fascination.

"Yeah, I do. I was a teacher once," Clara reminded her.

"Yes, I remember. I wasn't referring to that though. You were there, weren't you? I can tell somehow just from the way that you look at me," Victoria said.

"Of course I was. Where else would I have been?" Clara said with a sad smile.

Then she quickly waved good bye to her old friend and walked through her bedroom door and straight into the Doctor's TARDIS which had been parked just outside of it the entire time. She technically hadn't been lying when she said that she had left the Doctor in the TARDIS. She just hadn't said exactly where the TARDIS was.

As the Doctor dematerialized the TARDIS, he said, "So was she as full of laughs as she always is?"

"Yep, same old Victoria as usual. She still hates you with a passion by the way," Clara said with a smirk as she kissed him.

"Yes, I thought as much. That's why I didn't bother to go in there with you even with this face on. She would have probably seen through me right away, and I'd have wound up in the Tower again. That place does tend to get boring after the first dozen or so visits there. There's just nothing new left to see anymore," The Doctor said with a deep frown.

"I get the idea that she would have done something a little more drastic than that if she had caught you with me," Clara admitted as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"She warned you to get away from me, didn't she?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah, but since when do I ever listen to anyone?" Clara said dismissively as she continued to hold onto him.

"I won't let anything happen to you again, Clara. Not this time," The Doctor said in a solemn voice as he now put his own arms around her and held her tightly.

"I really wish everyone would stop with the doom and gloom already. This is supposed to be the happiest moment of my life and everyone's determined to rain on my parade for some reason lately," Clara said in an annoyed voice.

"I think they're just being cautious, Clara, and with good reason," Ashildr said as she walked into the Console Room.

"I'm a different person than I used to be before though. I'm not that reckless anymore," Clara reassured her as she finally pulled away from the Doctor.

"You don't have to be. Victoria was right about the Doctor bringing danger with him," Ashildr said which instantly earned her a dirty look from the Doctor.

"What are you doing? Spying on me now? You hacked into my laptop's speaker and listened to that entire conversation, didn't you?" Clara said with a look of indignation.

"I just wanted to make sure that the Doctor didn't break his word and leave the TARDIS. I know how she feels about him. I didn't want both of you being thrown into the Tower . . . or worse," Ashildr said in an apologetic tone.

"Oh, please. Victoria would never hurt me and you know it. You just can't stand to give me a single moment of privacy because you're afraid that I'm going to get into trouble. I really wish that you'd stop acting like my mother, Ashy," Clara said in a furious tone.

"Oh, I'm the one acting like a mother? Did you or did you not tell Victoria that you had to be a good role model for me as if I were still an impressionable child? I may look like a teenager but I'm billions of years older than you are, Clara. If anyone is the child in our relationship it's definitely you," Ashildr said in a raised voice.

"And now I'm reminded of exactly why I hate domestics so much. Clara, do you want me to leave your mother figure/sister/whatever she is to you on some distant planet somewhere in the far future because believe me that definitely would not be a problem? Can I suggest Miasimia Goria? It's a lovely little world or so I've heard," The Doctor said in a deeply annoyed voice.

"It's also ruled by your old enemy, The Rani," Ashildr said as she glared at him.

"Oh, so you're heard of it then? Good. Then you already know what to expect. Be sure to send me a postcard and let me know how you're doing. If Ushas allows you to that is. She tends to frown on any attempt at free expression there," The Doctor said in a sarcastic voice as he started to enter coordinates into the console.

"That's enough, Doctor. Ashy's not going anywhere," Clara said in a no nonsense tone.

"Why do you care? You just caught her spying on you. Why would you want someone like that around you? And do I have to remind you of how she played a major role in your death?" The Doctor protested.

Clara's face turned red with anger now and it was with a determined look in her eyes that she said, "Let's just get this straight once and for all. What happened to me was my fault and mine only. I was the one who decided to play hero without knowing all of the facts or having a proper plan in place and I paid the price for it. You can just leave Ashildr alone about that from now on because she's not that same person anymore and she's already tortured herself way too much over it as it is. As for the spying, she's just trying to look out for me just like I try to look out for her. I don't always approve of how she does it, but I know it's because she cares. She's become my family since I left you, Doctor. The only family that I've had for a very long time now if you don't count the occasional visits that I have with my father and grandmother, and she's not going anywhere without me. If you want me here, then she's going to be here too. That's just the way that it is now. Take it or leave it."

Ashildr's heart immediately filled with joy at the fact that Clara was standing up for her. She wasn't going to just casually leave her behind as she feared that she might now that she had the Doctor back again.

That didn't mean that she wanted her to lose her only chance at happiness though.

"Clara, don't. If he doesn't want me here . . ." Ashildr said as she chose what was best for Clara over her own needs.

"No. You're staying. End of discussion," Clara said as she looked at both Ashildr and the Doctor simultaneously.

The Doctor looked furious for a moment and then slowly nodded as he said, "Fine. If that's the way that it has to be."

"It is. Oh, and I guess we'll keep Eleanor with us too. She's not so bad now that I know that she's not actually out to get me. I guess I was being just a bit too paranoid before," Clara admitted with a nervous smile.

"A little? You've been deeply paranoid since the moment Akhaten tried to kill us or have you forgotten accusing me of making up the prophecy of the Hybrid just to break you and the Doctor apart?" Ashildr said with a smirk.

The Doctor looked at her questioningly which caused her to quickly add, "I didn't of course."

"What? I don't remember doing that," Clara said with a confused look on her face.

Ashildr looked at her in surprise as she said, "You don't?"

"No. When did I do that?" Clara asked in an uncertain voice.

Ashildr looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "I don't remember all of the details exactly. I just remember it happening recently. Akhaten must have erased it from your mind along with all of those other memories that he took away from you. I'm sorry for not believing you about that by the way."

"Yeah, that must be it," Clara agreed in a bothered voice.

Fenric instantly became alarmed. He never should have given full control back to Ashildr at such a crucial moment. He was focusing all of his concentration on what was soon to come though. Plus he had never thought of her casually blurting such a thing out that way after centuries of unconscious conditioning not to say anything to Clara about his plans.

Could it be that Ashildr wasn't as fully under his influence as he had always believed?

It truly didn't matter though he supposed. Things had gone much too far for him to lose the game at this late of a stage. Clara would soon be his no matter what she did or didn't suspect.

"Why would she think that you had faked the prophecy?" The Doctor asked Ashildr.

"I'm not sure. I don't remember all of the details. Maybe Akhaten took some of my memories as well or it could be just business as usual. I don't usually lose memories that quickly though," Ashildr said in a nonchalant tone since memory loss was a routine thing for her.

The Doctor looked more than a bit concerned at both Clara and Ashildr now as he wondered what could possibly be going on. Something about their story didn't quite add up to him.

Fenric realized that the Doctor's mind was already starting to put the pieces together, but he had returned far too late to stop him this time. All that he could do now was watch in despair as Fenric made the final move in the game at last and captured his Queen.

It wouldn't be much longer now.

That was Eleanor entered the room and gave everything around her an appraising look as she said with a pleased smile, "Yes, I like the general aesthetics of this room too. I would definitely put more roundels on the walls however. You can never have enough of them in my opinion but then I'm a little bit old school I suppose. Well, maybe not as old as you."

"Who is she talking to?" The Doctor said to Clara as he noticed that Eleanor was looking at the console instead of at them.

"Guess," Clara said with a mischievous look.

The Doctor now became completely indignant as he said, "She's supposed to be completely human now though. How is it that she can hear my TARDIS and I can't?"

"I don't know. Maybe because she used to be one?" Clara suggested as she secretly enjoyed how his nostrils flared out whenever he became angry.

"Got it in one. You're just as clever as always, sweetie. My brain may be human now but my mind is still enough like a capsule's that I can interface with my sister's matrix if I concentrate hard enough. She has a very melodic voice I might add. It would sound like music to your ears I believe," Eleanor said as she gave the Doctor a smile of superiority.

She had always loved it whenever she got the opportunity to cut one of these smug Time Lords down to size. This Time Lord in particular seemed to need that sort of treatment in spades. He was every bit as arrogant as Ashildr had always said that he was.

"What is she saying?" The Doctor asked Eleanor eagerly even as he pushed his natural inclination to say something nasty to her aside for the moment.

When would he ever get an opportunity like this again after all?

"Oh, she was just showing me around and telling me how she likes the current desktop theme. She was also telling me how much she enjoys my presence here and how she hopes that you won't make me go. She thinks it's a welcome change to have someone with some actual intelligence around for once. She's simply starved for intelligent conversation from the sound of it," Eleanor said with a wicked grin.

The Doctor had to bite his tongue now as he said, "I'd talk to her all of the time if I actually could."

"Yes, I'm sure you would but what would that really solve? She'd still lack any actual intelligent conversation wouldn't she?" Eleanor teased him.

"She did not say that," The Doctor said in an angry voice as Clara started to openly laugh behind him.

She was starting to love Eleanor more and more lately.

"No, not in so many words but I could tell that she was thinking it," Eleanor admitted with a chuckle.

"What is it that she's actually saying to you?" The Doctor demanded.

"Well, at the moment she's laughing at you just like Clara is. She thinks that this whole thing is quite amusing. She really does like having me around. She says that I'm like a breath of fresh air compared to General Grumpy. I assume she's referring to you," Eleanor said with a giggle.

"I am not grumpy. I just don't believe in excessive laughing or smiling or any other such unnecessary displays of emotion," The Doctor protested.

"Uh, huh. In other words, you're a huge grouch," Eleanor said with a look of triumph on her face that made Clara laugh even harder.

"Eleanor, tell me. Do you fancy a trip to Miasimia Goria? Ashildr thinks it would be a wonderful vacation site if you need some company," The Doctor said in an extremely bothered voice.

"Yeah, not falling for that one, Doctor. If Clara and Ashy are staying here, then I will too. Someone's got to look out for my girls after all and I definitely don't trust you to do the job," Eleanor said with a tone of disapproval.

She didn't dare say out loud the real reason that she wouldn't leave them. She could feel that it was almost time for the beginning of the final stage of whatever Fenric's plan for Clara was, and she was the only one who even knew about its existence. She had to be there to help her if Clara was to have any chance of escaping whatever the evil being had planned for her.

She had already started to help in fact by communicating the threat that Fenric posed to the TARDIS who Fenric hadn't even considered when he had ordered her not to talk to anyone since she couldn't talk to the others. It had been the TARDIS who had used her ability to enter into her passengers' minds to help Ashildr remember that Clara had suspected her of manufacturing the threat of the Hybrid. It had been a subtle but hopefully effective way of undermining Fenric judging by the way it had made Clara look when Ashildr had mentioned it.

If only they could jog Clara's own memories of those lost days loose again then maybe they'd have a fighting chance of stopping Fenric. Eleanor was certainly doing everything that she could to accomplish that goal, but she feared that it was already too little too late though.

Eleanor's only other hope of helping Clara entered the room now as Jane walked in, took one look at the angry look on the Doctor's face, and said in an amused tone, "Is Eleanor being her usual charming self, Doctor?"

"Charming isn't exactly the word that I'd use. It's so good to see a familiar face right now. I'm glad that at least one person here is on my side," The Doctor said as he actually smiled at Jane for a brief moment.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think he's glad to see you, Writer Girl. He almost displayed an actual emotion for a moment there," Clara couldn't resist saying.

Jane smiled back at her and then hugged the Doctor as she said, "Of course he did. We go back a long way together, Clara. I first met him when he was even worse than he is now believe it or not. That was when we fought the Phoenix together along with Vicki and Steven. We even danced together during that adventure. Remember that, Doctor? Then I met yet another version of the Doctor when he took River ice skating near my house. I truly enjoyed talking to her. She was filled with stories about the Doctor's life that revealed some very interesting information about him."

"I bet. Remind me to ask you all about those stories sometime," Clara said with a chuckle while the Doctor gave Jane a surprised look.

"Oh, it was nothing scandalous I assure you," Jane said to the Doctor just before she gave Clara a wry smile behind his back that suggested otherwise.

Then Jane's good mood suddenly vanished as she said to the Doctor, "Did you ever find out the cause of Clara's sudden memory loss? I'm still not certain that it can all be attributed to this Akhaten plus he seemed to be suggesting that he wasn't working alone at the end."

Good. Keep reminding them of the facts. Eleanor thought to herself with satisfaction as she watched this from the sidelines.

"Yes, well he also tried to make Clara think that I was out to hurt her too so I wouldn't necessarily believe anything that he said," Ashildr said in an irritated tone.

"Interesting especially when it's added on top of that remark that you yourself made about Clara accusing you of plotting against her," The Doctor said as he looked at Ashildr with renewed suspicion now.

"Doctor, I don't remember any of this and I don't believe for a second that it's actually true anyway," Clara said in a defensive tone.

The Doctor looked deeply into her eyes now as he said in serious tone, "Clara, something doesn't add up here. If Akhaten was draining your memories he wouldn't have just taken a few select ones and especially not the most recent ones first. He would have been taking memories from throughout your life and at every period in your existence. That's what he was trying to do to me. He wanted to feast on my most powerful memories first as sort of a main course because those had the most energy to them. That's what he would have done to you as well if he had truly been the one behind what happened to you. The fact that all of your other memories are intact and just the ones from recently have been tampered with suggests that someone is trying to cover up something."

"I know. I came to that same conclusion myself," Clara admitted as she too became completely serious now.

"Clara, what are you saying? You don't really believe that I . . ." Ashildr said in a hurt voice.

"No, of course not. Not willingly anyway," Clara said.

Ashildr looked at her in shock now as she said, "So you actually do believe that I was working against you somehow?"

"Like I said, not willingly. Something is definitely wrong though and that's why I went to Buckingham Palace. I needed to bring in some help," Clara said in an uncertain voice as if she were thinking something over in her mind and hadn't yet come to a decision yet.

"And what could Queen Victoria do to help us exactly?" Ashildr asked in confusion even as Clara walked over to the console and suddenly hit a button on it that she knew from seeing it on their own TARDIS' console would send out this TARDIS' exact coordinates throughout time and space.

Who was she trying to send their location to and why?

"Not Victoria. You went there to get her to pass a message along to someone else didn't you, Clara? It was something that you didn't want anyone else to know about since you weren't sure who you could or couldn't trust. I bet I really liked you if this is an example of how brilliant that you are," The Doctor now realized with a pleased smile on his face.

"Oh, like is definitely not the word, Old Man. Think of something a whole lot stronger," Clara said as she gave him a tender kiss.

Fenric inwardly cursed himself now as he realized that the message that Clara had given Victoria had been important and he had completely overlooked it. She hadn't gone there for her friend Jenna's sake. She had been asking someone for help. Who though?

Suddenly he received his answer as a woman's voice said from behind them, "Do you two have to do that? I already feel sick enough as it is from the ride over here. I really wouldn't recommend using a Vortex Manipulator to try to jump on-board a TARDIS while it's still in-flight by the way. It can do all sorts of horrible things to the stomach and we all know how delicate and fragile that I am, don't we?"

"You. What are you doing here?" The Doctor said as he stared at the new arrival with open hostility.

Missy gave him her most sinister smile in response even as she shoved Clara's note in her face and said, "I got your note, dear. I love how you arranged for me to be at Buckingham Palace on that particular date by sending an encrypted message to me through that Vortex Manipulator you took from UNIT. Been learning some of River's tricks have you? I really didn't appreciate the comment to Victoria about not letting me become her nanny by the way. I have no idea what you meant saying something like that. Why anyone who knows me knows that I just completely adore children especially the kind who howl at the moon. They're the best."

"Why did you ask her of all people to come here?" The Doctor said to Clara in disbelief.

Missy smirked at him as she said, "Offhand I'd say that it was probably because you were being your usual clueless self I suppose. So, Clara, you believe that your mind is being taken over, do you? I'd say based on what you told me about what happened to you recently that you're right, and I highly doubt that it was Akhaten either based on what I know about him. This just doesn't fit his modus operandi at all. That's why I came as soon as I could in order to find out what was really happening. I mean I can't have my boyfriend lose his favorite puppy just as soon as he gets her back again can I? He might go all bonkers and threaten all of time and space if that ever happened. Oh, wait. That already happened the last time didn't it? You know I might start to think that you love her more than me if you keep doing that sort of thing, Doctor."

"I am not your boyfriend," The Doctor said in an angry voice.

"Well, you certainly won't be if you keep this up will you? And here I thought that I meant so much more to you than that, Doctor. I mean you did spare my life back at the crucial moment when killing me would have meant sending Rassilon back into the Time Lock. That would have certainly been the easiest way to end things but you destroyed the White Point Star that linked me to him instead. You spared my life when you certainly had no reason to so I decided to give you a gift in return. I searched far and wide for the perfect Earth girl to give to you as a companion, and when I finally found her I gave her your phone number. Now shouldn't you be a little nicer to me for giving you such a cute little puppy to tag along with you on all of your adventures?" Missy said with an evil grin.

"I'm starting to think that maybe this wasn't my best idea," Clara said with a frown.

"No, really?" The Doctor said in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, it was certainly a better idea than to listen to Viking Girl over there with all of her talk about Hybrid this and Hybrid that and have her break you and the Doctor up. That wasn't very bright at all now was it? Then he had no one to look after him at all anymore and that's never a good idea. As down as he gets sometimes when he's on his own, he might go visit Mars again and decide to have a second go at altering history there or something. Compared to the Doctor I'm really the sane one but no one will listen to me for some reason. I'm not sure why. Is it the outfit? The constant grinning? The homicidal behavior? It's definitely a mystery," Missy said with a wicked laugh.

"You were angry at me for leaving him weren't you? You wanted me there to protect him from something didn't you? Was it that same something that's trying to take me over now?" Clara asked as she steered Missy back to the point of this visit.

Missy's smile now suddenly changed to a look of pure anger in a split second as she said, "Of course it is and that something wouldn't have had a chance to take you over at all if you had just stayed with the Doctor in the first place. But no you had to leave him and go gallivanting off with your new girlfriend because she convinced you that you had to split up in order to save the universe from the threat of the notorious Hybrid. Oh, how very noble of you. Did you ever just take the time to think about it for a second before you went off and acted like a selfless martyr, Clara. The universe just kept bringing the two of you together again over and over and even used you to save the Doctor from dying on Trenzalore. Would that really be happening if you were a danger to it? I brought you together with him because you're practically his soul mate. It wasn't a plot to endanger reality. It was never that. It was . . ."

She seemed to actually tear up then and the Doctor actually looked sorry for her as he said, "You were trying to give me something to say that you were sorry weren't you? You were trying to repair our friendship by giving me the perfect woman."

Clara started to smile from ear to ear even as the Doctor caught what he had said and corrected himself.

"You gave me the perfect friend and traveling companion . . . and then I took her and made her into me. And I destroyed her," The Doctor said in a sad voice as he looked away from Clara in guilt.

As Clara wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her, Missy shook her head as she said, "No, I picked her because she was exactly like you, Doctor. She has the exact same personality as you do. You didn't change her at all. You just allowed her to express her true self for the first time by allowing her to travel with you free from the social restrictions and general boredom of that mudball of a planet that she was born on. Unfortunately for her she was too much like you and sacrificed herself to save someone else. Only she didn't have any regenerations to bring her back again like you do. Now don't you wish you had given that Mire chip to her instead of Viking Girl? I know I certainly would have especially since I already knew what she was destined to become."

"What do you mean by that? Just what exactly are you trying to imply?" Ashildr asked in a furious voice.

"Oh, I'm doing more than implying it. I'm outright saying it. You're the unwitting pawn of one of the Doctor's enemies and have been for most of your very long life. This same enemy used you to break him and Clara up so that he could gain access to Clara and make her into his pawn as well in his own little mad scheme to get back at the Doctor. And who better to use as a new body to escape his imprisonment than an immortal woman who was already dead and couldn't be harmed in any way? That was the perfect tool for his revenge right there, and he had planned out before the two of you ever arrived at the end of time. Or did you not think that it was very convenient how Ashildr just happened to be waiting there for you? I mean please!" Missy said as she swiftly started to become angry once more herself.

"If you already knew all of this then why didn't you say something long before this?" The Doctor asked.

"Would either of you have believed me? I know you wouldn't have. You would have just thought that all I cared about was bringing the two of you together for my own 'nefarious' purposes. Clara certainly wouldn't have believed anything bad about her new older sister that nobody asked for either, would she? Not until she got solid proof that something was wrong anyway. Then when she actually did, she finally came to me at last. It certainly took you long enough, poppet," Missy said in an aggravated tone.

The Doctor had a horrified look on his face now as he said to Missy in a weary voice, "Ashildr was a Viking and you said that this enemy was trapped and controlling her in order to make Clara his new body."

"Ding ding ding. He finally gets it, everyone. Told you he was a little slow. Yes, it's your old friend Fenric. He wants to steal your favorite puppy and use her to free himself while simultaneously getting his revenge on you. Basically he wants to pull out your hearts and stomp them flat first before he finally just kills you outright. Of all the cheek! Everyone knows that's my job," Missy said as she shook her head at him.

"Missy, focus. I asked you to come here to free my mind from whoever is controlling it before it's too late. I mean that is your thing isn't it? You control people's minds. Who better to use to fight back against this Fenric person?" Clara said in an anxious voice.

"And who says that it's not already too late, Clara Oswald?" A voice that was far too deep and masculine to be Ashildr's suddenly said from her mouth.

"I recognize that voice. That's the voice that Ashildr used as a highwayman in order to fool people into thinking that she was a man. I should have realized that there was no way that she could have made that voice naturally,' The Doctor said as he hit himself in the forehead.

"Yes, you should have but as usual you completely missed an obvious clue that was right in front of you the entire time. Turning Ashildr darker and making her attempt to give the Earth over to alien invaders was all my doing. I was slowing corrupting her and remaking her into my image so that she would be my perfect pawn. Who better to use as a means of escape from the flask that you placed me inside than one of the very Vikings who had stolen it from where you had hidden it so very long ago? Yes, that's right. Ashildr was one of my very first Wolves and my only immortal pawn. Until now that is."

That was when Fenric/Ashildr turned to look at Clara with glowing eyes and a malevolent grin that shook her to her very core. She was more afraid now than she had ever been back on the trap street when the raven had been flying towards her. All that the raven could do was kill her after all. Fenric was actually going to destroy everything that made her her, and then use her empty shell to kill the only person that she had ever truly loved.

It was a betrayal of everything that she was and she wasn't about to just stand there and let him get away with it.

"You can get that defiant look off of your face right now, Clara. You have no choice in the matter. You will be mine in just a short time and there's nothing that you can do about it. I have almost total control over you and soon that control will be complete and irreversible. There's nothing that you can do to stop it now because even if you somehow killed Ashildr I would just jump into another host until the time was right to claim you at last. Do you really think that I haven't completely planned everything out in intricate detail? I've come too far to be stopped now at the last minute," Fenric boasted.

"And just what have you been up to exactly, Demon Boy? And while I'm asking twenty questions, why wasn't Akhaten able to put me back into my timestream? That was you wasn't it?" Clara asked.

The Doctor gave her an urgent look now that clearly said that they should be coming up with a plan to stop Fenric while she still had him talking. Clara could only smile back at him reassuringly even as Fenric began to answer her questions.

She already had a plan after all. It just wasn't one that she had been prepared to use until now when it seemed as if she had no other choice.

Fenric didn't seem to notice any of this however as he said, "From the moment that you started to travel with Ashildr I slowly began to take over your body as well and to attune it to my own psychic energy so that it would become the perfect vessel for me one day. The longer that you traveled with Ashildr the more that I placed you under my control. And every time that you came close to finding out the truth about the Hybrid and how it was all a ploy to separate you from the Doctor I erased your memories once more and returned you to a state of obliviousness. This happened over and over again because your mind is extremely powerful. It was so powerful in fact that this is why I have had to wait for centuries to gain control over it."

"You're basically saying that she was too stubborn for you to control in other words," The Doctor said with a smirk.

"Do you want to stay conscious long enough to hear the rest of what Fenric has to say or not, Old Man?" Clara threatened as she gave him a dirty look.

Even as the Doctor moved back from her and gave her an apologetic look, Fenric laughed and said, "Don't worry, Doctor. You won't have to stay on your best behavior or at least what passes for it in your case for much longer. I'm almost finished now and so are you. I've told Clara everything that she asked about except for the most vital piece of information. You see I did more than slowly take her over. I wanted an indestructible immortal body that would always be mine forever so that I could finally be free. I didn't need a body that would one day have to go back in order to meet its final inevitable demise. So I had to change that."

"What do you mean change it? How? I thought no one could change a fixed point in time," Clara said in stunned disbelief.

"Not that the Doctor certainly didn't try to back on Mars," Missy said with a chuckle.

Fenric glared at her as he said, "I thought outside of the box and decided that if I couldn't change Clara's fate that I would just change her instead."

"Change me? What are you talking about?" Clara asked with a sense of growing bewilderment.

The Doctor however seemed to know exactly what Fenric was talking about however as he became excited and said, "While you were spending all of those centuries with Clara, you slowly and subtly altered her temporal signature so much that she no longer fit into her own timestream anymore. Now there's no way to ever put her back into it again. You've basically turned her into a temporal anomaly that will never age and that cannot die. Nothing will ever change about her period. She's the ultimate fixed point in time."

"Won't that create a paradox though if I'm not there to die in the final moment?" Clara asked in a voice that was almost hopeful now.

Could it really be true? Had she been saved from certain death?

Even if she had though, was it only so that she could become Fenric's new vessel forever?

The Doctor actually looked happy as he said, "No, because he's essentially created a brand new timeline for you through advanced temporal trickery. Fenric used his immense control over reality to slowly change you into an alternate version of yourself who wasn't marked by the chronolock anymore and split your timeline off from the original one into a completely separate tangent. Basically he split your timestream in two. In one timeline one version of you died as she was meant to originally and in this timeline this version of you is heading towards a brand new completely unknown future. It's the kind of advanced temporal meddling that only beings as powerful as Fenric can get away with, and he was only able to do it in his weakened state because he was around you for so very long."

"That explains why my chronolock kept fading in and out at first and then just disappeared completely. I never did understand that. I thought maybe it was because I had been pulled out of time," Clara said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"It was because the changes to your timeline were being slowly applied retroactively back to the very moment when I first pulled you out of time. That's also why your heartbeat never returned like it should have when I brought you to the end of time. Fenric had arranged it so that it never would no matter where you went," The Doctor explained in an excited voice.

"All of that just so that you could have a new body to ride around in, Demon Boy. It sounds like an awful lot of trouble to go to in my opinion when you could just continue to stay inside of Ashildr who was already immortal," Clara commented.

"No, I didn't do it just to have a new body but to make you into the new me. You won't just be a body that I inhabit, Clara. You will actually be me. We will merge and become one entity and you will be mine forever. In fact, it will happen before this day is over," Fenric warned as his smile of anticipation grew ever wider by the moment.

"Heard everything that you needed to know now?" Missy asked Clara.

"And then some. I think it's time now," Clara said as she stretched her hand out towards Missy.

"Time for what? What do you two have planned together and why do I already not like the idea?" The Doctor said in a wary voice.

"Because it involves her," Clara said even as she grasped Missy's hand and something began to transfer between the two women.

Something that the Doctor recognized very well.

"Clara, don't. You don't know what you're playing around with here," The Doctor pleaded in a frantic voice.

A tattoo just like the one that Ashildr herself had once worn now appeared on Clara's shoulder even as Missy said, "I talked to The Quantum Shade just as you asked in your note and it has agreed to help you. It considered it justice I think to get back at the person who denied it its original kill. No offense."

"None taken," Clara said as she activated the chronolock and placed it on Fenric/Ashildr long before he could even begin to stop her.

"Clara, wait! Missy didn't tell you everything. She never does. Just listen to me before it's too late," The Doctor warned.

"What are you doing? You'll kill your friend if you go through with this," Fenric said in a panicking voice as he saw a countdown tattoo suddenly appear on Ashildr's arm.

It was set to less than three minutes and was already starting to count down.

A grim look came over Clara's face as she said, "Actually I won't. The Quantum Shade is only going to destroy you. That's a part of our deal. It's going to purge you from Ashy's body for good. There's no use to run either because the chronolock is linked directly to you and not to her. It'll follow you to whatever body that you jump in."

Then a raven suddenly appeared perched on top of Clara's shoulder for a brief moment before it began to slowly race towards Fenric who looked at it in undisguised terror. Fenric knew that in his current weakened state outside of his original form that even he could be killed by a Shade.

"You can't do this!" Fenric screamed as the raven raced straight towards him at incredible speed.

"I don't want to do it but you've forced me to haven't you? I'm not about to become your tool to use against the Doctor and who knows who else," Clara said in an emotional voice that clearly told everyone listening that she hated this decision and didn't really want to go through with it.

"You can't trust the Quantum Shade. It may kill Ashildr too while attempting to get to me. You have no way of knowing that for sure until it's too late. Call it off now if you want to save her life," Fenric demanded.

"Is that true?" Clara asked the Doctor.

"Yes, it has been known to happen from time to time. Even Quantum Shades who make deals to kill only one party have killed others if they were in some way preventing it from getting to its target. That's why I was trying to stop you. Call it off, Clara. I don't like Ashildr because of what she did to you but I don't want her dead," The Doctor warned.

Clara hesitated even as a voice that was clearly Ashildr's said, "Do it. Don't worry about me. Just do it. Save yourself. Please."

"Ashildr," Clara said in an anguished voice as tears began to flow down her face.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me, Clara. I'm the one who did this to you no matter what you say. It's only right that it all comes back on me now," Ashildr said in a brave voice.

Clara could hear the fear in it though despite her best attempts to hide it.

That was when Clara immediately started to remove the chronolock from Fenric/Ashildr. Or at least she tried to anyway. She quickly found out however that no matter what she did nothing worked.

"Clara, take it off," The Doctor pleaded once more.

That was when Missy laughed and said, "I'm afraid that she can't, Doctor. I lied I'm afraid. It wasn't her that the Shade made the agreement with at all. It was me. I knew that she would never go through with it in order to protect Viking Girl, and I just couldn't have that, could I? So I allowed her to use the chronolock, but she was never really the one in control of it. I am and I say that it doesn't matter if Viking Girl dies or not as long as Fenric goes with her."

"No! Don't do this!" Clara screamed.

"It's too late now, dear. Don't worry so much. It's really for your own good and besides there's a chance that Ashildr will survive. I mean it's definitely 50/50 at least, right?" Missy said with mocking laughter as the raven continued on its unalterable course towards Fenric/Ashildr.

It was now only moments away from reaching them and there was seemingly nothing that Clara or anyone else could do to stop it. Her oldest, dearest friend was about to die and it was all going to be her fault for ever involving the Master in this.

 **Next: Is there any way to stop Missy now? Will Fenric die and if he does will Ashildr perish along with him? No matter what happens the next chapter is the start of a major new turning point in Clara's life. Will it begin with tragedy or triumph?**


	7. The Final Gambit

CHAPTER 7

I do not own Doctor Who or Andy Pandy and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews.

THE FINAL GAMBIT

 _Idris, materialize around Ashildr! Now!_ Eleanor mentally commanded the TARDIS as she quickly thought up a plan to save her friend from the oncoming Quantum Shade before it was too late.

"What?" Fenric said in a surprised voice through Ashildr's mouth as the TARDIS suddenly started to surround him/Ashildr just moments before the raven would have reached them.

"Run! Go as deeply into the TARDIS as you can!" Eleanor ordered.

Fenric nodded even as he swiftly disappeared from sight while the TARDIS successfully materialized around him.

Clara immediately released a breath that she hadn't even realized that she had been holding (it was funny how she still continued to breathe after all of these centuries even though she no longer needed to) and silently thanked Eleanor with a kiss on the cheek that made the ex-TARDIS smile from ear to ear. For the moment at least Ashy was still alive, and as long as she was there was still hope.

"I just bought both of you some time, Clara. Use it wisely. It won't last forever," Eleanor advised.

"So basically I'm racing against the clock to think of a way to save someone's life before a mysterious alien being that no one fully understands can kill them. Sounds familiar," Clara mused out loud with a frown.

As long as there _was_ still time though, Clara Oswald still had a chance, no matter how small, to pull off the impossible. It was what she did after all. She could usually do at least ten impossible things before breakfast and far more than that when she really had her mojo working for her.

Or at least that's what she kept telling herself in that moment anyway because she could never allow herself to believe anything else. She had learned a long time ago that the moment that you admitted that something was impossible that it usually became a self-fulfilling prophecy so that simply wasn't going to happen. Not today.

Today it was finally time to earn her old nickname once and for all.

"I'm afraid that won't buy you anywhere near enough time, dear. Even the defenses of a TARDIS can't keep the Shade out for long. All you've done is delay the inevitable. You may have just given them an extra five minutes of life tops. That's plus or minus a minute or three here or there of course," Missy said with a smug look as the Shade began to pass straight through the TARDIS doors as if they weren't even there.

The Doctor looked at her with absolute disdain now even as he gave Eleanor a brief look of approval while he said, "Yes, but sometimes even just a few minutes are all you really need aren't they? I've saved entire universes in just a few minutes and still had enough time to get back to the TARDIS before the tea got cold. Did I ever tell you about what I did on Karn with just a few extra minutes, Clara?"

Missy smirked as she said, "Oh, isn't that sweet? Even though you can't stand Viking Girl any more than I do you're still going to try to save her anyway for the sake of your devoted puppy. You simply can't stand to see her cry can you, Doctor? You still think you can come up with one of those wonderful last minute plans of yours to save the day, don't you? There is no way to save her though, Doctor. Not this time. You know that as well as I do. You just don't want to admit that to your beloved Clara. Once the Shade has been used only I can call it back again and that's not going to happen. Unlike you I don't really care if Clara's much too pure little heart is broken as long as I know that she'll survive."

The Doctor looked at her in surprise as he said, "You almost sound like you're doing this to protect her."

Missy shrugged as she said in a completely unconcerned voice, "Don't fool yourself. I'm merely protecting my investment. I put a lot of time and energy into finding her for you, and I'm not about to waste it just because one of your old enemies suddenly decided that he wanted a new Clara suit to wear one day. Besides it would take far too long to find someone else that can keep you under control as easily as she does anyway. Can't have you wiping out the Web of Time before I do because you've gone and had a funny turn again one day. Where's the fun in watching the end of the universe if I haven't brought it about myself?"

The Doctor studied her closely for a moment and then to everyone's surprise he suddenly laughed as he said, "Liar. You care about her. You actually care about Clara."

"Sure could have fooled me, Old Man. I know I always push people down holes and stick them inside of Dalek casings when I care about them. Can we please stop wasting time trying to find Missy's non-existent good side and come up with a plan to save Ashy while we still can?" Clara pleaded even as she gave Missy a look of open contempt.

"Why bother? I've already told you before. You're wasting your time trying to come up with anything by this point," Missy said with a frown.

"Shut up, you! I've had more than enough of your lip right now. Got it? Say one more thing and I'll end you right here and now! Don't think I won't either," Clara said in a cold voice.

Missy smiled evilly as she said in a faux emotional tone, "Ooh, now that was good. Excellent delivery, poppet. Plenty of menace in your tone and just the proper amount of raw, seething hatred to really convey your message. Even I felt just a bit frightened there for a moment. You make Mummy so very proud. My little puppy's all grown up now."

Clara's face instantly contorted with rage and she actually looked as if she would strike Missy down right on the spot until Jane suddenly placed herself between the two women.

"Clara, she's not worth it. Don't you see? She knows precisely how to manipulate you in order to get whatever emotional response that she wants from you at any given moment. This is exactly what she wants you to do. She wants you to waste what precious time that you have left fighting with her instead of using it to help Ashildr. Calm yourself, dear. Find an inner sense of peace within yourself so that you're thinking clearly once more and then think of a way to save our friend before it's too late. I know that you can do this. Ashildr's future has hardly been foretold ahead of time has it? Therefore based on my admittedly limited understanding of the Doctor's Laws of Time it has not yet been set in stone. There's still time to change things for the better," Jane said in a soft, gentle voice as she slowly stroked the top of Clara's head.

To the Doctor's great surprise Clara actually listened and visibly calmed down within moments. It seemed that she and Jane were far closer than even he had realized if she could change Clara's mood so drastically in only a matter of moments with just a few well placed words.

He couldn't help but wonder in that moment if her continuing presence on the TARDIS might come in handy for that very reason. At the very least he could see if she could stay until he had gotten to properly know Clara once again anyway.

"Yeah, you're right. You're absolutely right, Writer Girl. Thank you," Clara said in a much more levelheaded tone as she hugged Jane tightly in appreciation.

 _Yes, thank you!_ Eleanor thought to herself with a sigh of relief because she was almost sure that any chance that they might have to come up with a plan had just been lost for a moment there.

"Well, she's no fun. Who invited her along to spoil everything?" Missy said in an annoyed voice.

Clara looked at her defiantly as she said, "I did and I'm so glad about that right now because she just gave me an idea."

"I did?" Jane asked in confusion.

"She did?" The Doctor said in a noticeably jealous tone.

Not only did she understand Clara better but she also gave her ideas too? Exactly how close had they become since Clara left him anyway?

Clara smiled at him reassuringly and kissed him as she said in a teasing tone, "She did. Next time it'll be you that gives me the idea I'm sure. Who knows? You might even come up with a good one yourself, Grimmy."

"What do you mean might? I always come up with good ideas," The Doctor said in an angry voice.

"There's no need to be jealous. We'll be just as close as we used to be again one day soon. I promise. Just give it time," Clara whispered in his ear in a voice filled with love.

"I'm not jealous," The Doctor protested in a low voice so that Jane couldn't hear him.

Then he said in a much louder voice, "And exactly what is this brilliant plan of yours that she inspired anyway?"

"You'll see," Clara said with a mischievous smile as she suddenly started to punch several coordinates into her Vortex Manipulator.

"Wait! Tell me what . . ." The Doctor demanded just as Clara disappeared right in front of him.

"I hate not being the one who knows the plan," The Doctor muttered to himself even as he secretly enjoyed not knowing everything for once.

That got so boring.

Suddenly Clara reappeared carrying a battered old flag that looked all too familiar to the Doctor with her. That was when he knew exactly what she had in mind.

No wonder he wound up loving her so much. She was absolutely brilliant!

"You have to be careful using him though. He's completely unpredictable. You have no way of knowing for sure who he'll attack first," The Doctor warned.

"Doctor, if anyone's suffering the most emotional trauma in this area right now it's Ashy and Fenric. He'll be drawn right to them. Believe me. They are about to die after all. Besides the rest of us are all in the best of health as far as I know, and I don't even count because I'm technically dead. Or at least I think I still am anyway but who can tell with all of the jiggery pokery Fenric's been doing with my timestream? Anyway I'd say that gives them the best odds of being the first ones that he goes for in a minute, right?" Clara said with a wry grin.

"You're going to have to cut this very close, Clara. Just over a minute is all that you'll have once the countdown starts. What if the raven hasn't found them yet?" The Doctor asked.

"What if it has and it's only moments away from reaching them right now? I have to take that chance," Clara said as she raced into the TARDIS carrying the flag with her.

"What was she carrying, Doctor? Exactly what does she have planned?" Jane asked in puzzlement.

"You mean you don't know? I thought you knew everything about her," The Doctor said in what was an unmistakeable tone of jealousy this time.

Jane smiled at him softly and said in a conciliatory tone, "Doctor, I will not deny that the two of us are far closer than mere friends and have been for some time now. That having been said however she has never once acted on any romantic feelings towards me that she may or may not possess. Her heart has always belonged to one person and one only since the day that I met her . . . as has mine."

She had said this last part in a voice filled with what even this version of the Doctor could recognize was clear regret about what might have been.

The Doctor looked at her sadly now as he said in a knowing tone, "She tends to leave a lasting effect on a person doesn't she? No one else even comes close."

"No," Jane agreed with a wistful look on her face.

The Doctor put a comforting hand on her shoulder then and started to tell her exactly what Clara had in mind. Jane immediately smiled and shook her head in disbelief.

"It sounds more like something that you would do actually. Up until now I always thought that only you could be so bold and yet so unbelievably mad at the exact same time. The student has become the master it seems," Jane said with a chuckle.

"Yes, I seem to have left a lasting effect on her as well," The Doctor admitted with a small shrug.

"Whatever it is it's still not going to work, Doctor. Nothing can stop it now. Nothing and no one," Missy said in a voice filled with absolute certainty.

The Doctor completely ignored her as he asked Eleanor, "Is the TARDIS still speaking to you? Do you know what's happening in there?"

Eleanor nodded with a pleased smile as she said, "She's doing far more than simply speaking, Doctor. She's actually showing me. Here. Let me share it with both of you."

Then she placed one hand on the Doctor's face and another on Jane's. As soon as she did so, both of them could suddenly see everything that the TARDIS was showing her in their mind's eye.

Now all three of them could see exactly what was happening in real time while Missy was left fuming in the background at having been left completely out of the loop.

She enjoyed a good live execution as much as the next person after all.

At that very moment, Fenric/Ashildr were racing at top speed through the vast convoluted maze of TARDIS corridors with the raven fast on their heels. Whatever lead that they might have gained on the creature earlier had now been almost completely diminished by this point however, and they were only seconds away from finally falling prey to it once and for all. It became clear now that the raven was just about to claim its final victory over them at any moment just as Missy had predicted.

Then Fenric gasped in surprise as he suddenly saw an all new opponent join the raven in its pursuit. It looked for all of the world to be a long dead mummy wrapped from head to toe in bandages as it slowly shambled towards him and Ashildr just like something out of an old movie.

Fenric had no idea what the creature was but Ashildr did amazingly enough. Clara's tale of this horrific creature was something that not even she could forget it seemed.

Then again she rarely forget anything having to do with Clara she had found. Perhaps it was because Clara had remained such a constant presence in her life for so many centuries now. Her influence was completely unlike the fleeting shadows cast by the mayflies that were seemingly gone in the blink of an eye.

"The Foretold. She actually sent the Foretold after us. She's completely and utterly mad. Then again how else do you defeat a madwoman but with another one who's equally as demented as the first?" Ashildr said with a loving smile.

"The what?" Fenric asked in confusion.

"All you need to know is that Clara may have just saved our lives by doing something that the Master would have never even thought of in her wildest dreams. This is a whole new level of crazy even she doesn't operate on," Ashildr said in a voice filled with pride as she instantly realized what Clara must be planning and heartily approved of it because it was just mad enough to work.

Or was it?

"Whatever her plan was it appears that it was too little too late," Fenric said in a grim voice as the raven finally caught up to them at last and was now only a second away from reaching them.

Ashildr still had faith that Clara's plan would work but even she couldn't help but experience a moment of doubt just before the raven plunged into her chest. Images of everyone that she had ever loved (or at least what she still remembered of them anyway) flooded her mind at that moment as her heart filled with regret.

Even if her time with the mayflies had been all too brief, she still felt as if she should have done more with them somehow for that very reason. She also never should have closed her heart off to so many of them and shut them out of her life as she had done far too often in order to spare herself a sense of overwhelming loss once they eventually died. Perhaps that was something that she could change one day.

If her own end hadn't already come that is.

That thought made her unwittingly think of her sweet Will as she said to herself with a bitter smile, "It seems to me most strange that men should fear; seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come."

It was at that moment that the raven plunged straight into her heart.

As she raced through the TARDIS in a desperate race to find Ashildr before it was too late, Clara suddenly heard a scream of surprise from somewhere just ahead of her. Her heart immediately stopped (or at least it would have if it had still been beating) and her mind filled with nameless dread as she began to fear that her plan had still not been quite clever enough to save Ashy in time.

Then her spirits immediately soared in the very next moment as she heard Ashildr begin to laugh. It almost seemed like a laugh of joy, but she couldn't be sure about that. She began silently praying to whoever would listen in that moment as she raced towards the sound of that laughter at an ever faster pace.

Please let her be alright. Please.

Then seconds later she turned a corner and saw the raven floating in mid-air in what seemed to be a state of absolute confusion. Then before she could call out a warning she saw it plunge straight into Ashildr's body . . . and right back out again.

Clara smiled in triumph now as she saw the distraught bird try over and over again to plunge inside of Ashildr only to fail completely each and every time.

Ashildr saw her now and smiled at her gratefully as she said, "Your plan worked perfectly. The Foretold has moved me out of phase with everything else as it prepares to sync me up to its own phase level in order to kill me. That means that not even the Quantum Shade can touch me because I'm out of phase with it as well."

"Yes, but you have less than 66 seconds left before the Foretold kills you instead. I just hope that this is enough to confuse the raven and hopefully make it leave. If it doesn't give up before then though . . ." Clara said in a worried voice as she trailed off before she could finish her sentence.

"Yes, well it hasn't happened yet so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Even if the worst does happen, I know that you tried your best. You couldn't have possibly done anything more. Remember that. I love you, Clara," Ashildr said with no regret whatsoever in her voice now.

"I love you too," Clara said in a quivering voice as she eagerly awaited what would come in the next few moments.

Fenric now took over Ashildr's body once more as he said in a voice filled with disbelief, "You truly are insane. We'll still die at the hands of the mummy even if the raven does leave."

"Will we?" Ashildr said with a wicked smile.

Clara smiled with relief as she realized that Ashildr still remembered how to stop the mummy from killing her thanks to her story about the Orient Express. She had hoped that she would if she couldn't reach her in time since Ashildr always seemed to remember all of her stories about the Doctor even the ones that she supposedly tired of hearing over and over again.

Hopefully she wouldn't have to use that information though since that would immediately create a huge paradox. She had borrowed the Foretold from the time period just before he had been brought to the Orient Express so killing him now would do wonders for the Web of Time's stability since he would be dying before Clara would have even met him.

It was a risk that she was more than willing to take for Ashildr though.

"Clever girl. Not quite clever enough however. Even if you do somehow survive both the raven and the mummy, both of you will still have to deal with me afterward. You may well find yourself wishing that I had died here," Fenric taunted.

"Not if I've planned this right, Demon Boy," Clara said with her fingers crossed.

"What do you mean by . . . ?" Fenric asked in bewilderment.

He was then cut off in mid-sentence at that moment as the Foretold finally reached Ashildr at last and placed its hands on her head. She immediately began screaming in pain as the ancient warrior began instantly killing her as it started to drain the energy right out of her body.

Ashildr wouldn't tell the old soldier that she surrendered to him though no matter how bad the pain got even as Clara screamed at her to say it. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she call him off?

She didn't care about the paradox that it would create. The Web of Time really didn't matter too much to her at that moment. She and the Doctor could always sort it out together later once Ashildr was out of danger.

It might even turn out to be fun.

The plan had failed and the raven hadn't left after all so there was really no other choice for Ashildr anyway by this point. There simply was no use in dying at the Foretold's hands if she didn't have to was there?

Clara knew from centuries of fighting alongside her exactly what her friend was thinking right now though. Ashildr was hoping that the raven would give up long before the Foretold could kill her, and she was afraid that if she called off the Foretold now that the raven might strike at the very next moment.

She was taking a desperate gamble because she knew that being attacked by the raven more than likely meant certain death even for her. That easily made the fighting chance to live that she might still have against the Foretold look like a far more appealing option at that moment since Ashildr was counting on the Mire tech in her body being able to rapidly replenish her energy just as quickly as the mummy could drain it. That could be a foolish hope at best though plus there was always a chance that the raven wouldn't attack if she called off the Foretold.

As long as there was life, there was hope, right?

Then almost as if the Universe itself sought to mock her thoughts at that exact moment the raven suddenly plunged into Ashildr's chest once again. Unfortunately this time its attack was apparently a successful one as it caused her screams to reach unearthly levels while Clara looked on in horror.

"No, not like this. Please don't let her die because of me," Clara said in a voice filled with pain as tears began to rapidly well up in her eyes.

Then she realized that half of the screams that she was hearing were male and began to hope against hope that her plan was actually working out after all somehow.

"This is not the way that it all ends after centuries of planning! I will not die this way!" The unmistakeable voice of Fenric cried out in defiance.

"Apparently . . . it . . . is," Ashildr said through gritted teeth with a grim smile on her face as the Foretold continued to do his best to drain the life right out of her.

She could already feel what was happening to him after all through their link with one another. He was being completely torn apart from the inside out by the raven and for once in his long life there wasn't a thing that he could do about it.

You could hardly make a plan for something that you could never possibly have seen coming after all.

Fenric had been so sure that the Foretold's actions would affect him too since he was inside of Ashildr that he had never even thought of the possibility that he would be completely ignored by the creature and therefore not pulled out of phase with the rest of the universe like she was. He had never even considered the idea that only Ashildr herself would be attacked by the Foretold since hers was easily the most damaged psyche between the two of them due to the many, many holes left behind in her memory.

Clara had though. In fact her entire plan had been based on that idea from the very start.

Ashildr smiled now as Fenric completely disintegrated somewhere deep inside of her. She could feel it the exact instant that she was freed from him as she heard the last of his agonizing death cries slowly fade away somewhere deep in the inner recesses of her mind. She didn't even need to see the Quantum Shade leave her body a second later to know that everything was finally over with at last.

She had never felt such a sense of pure euphoria in even her lengthy lifespan.

She didn't get to enjoy that feeling for long however because her mind was instantly bombarded with billions of years of what she had thought were long forgotten memories in the very next moment. She only thought that she had felt pain before this but that was nothing compared to what happened to her next as her mind immediately shut down in response to the sudden onslaught.

Her body would have already hit the floor in the very next second if the Foretold wasn't still holding onto her.

"Ashildr!" Clara screamed with concern as she wondered what had gone wrong after Ashildr emitted a blood curdling scream that sounded as if it had come from the very core of her being and swiftly collapsed.

She was almost sure from Ashildr's expression earlier that her plan had worked and Fenric had died. Had she still died anyway though? Had the Foretold finally killed her just as soon as she had been freed?

Judging from the perplexed reaction that the old soldier displayed as he held Ashildr however that definitely was not the case. He had removed his hands from her head and now had them firmly wrapped around her mid-section instead while he looking at her quizzically. It was almost as though he were struggling to understand something that was currently beyond his comprehension.

In fact it seemed as if he were trying to decide if she was still his target or not. Clara couldn't determine if that was a good or bad thing at that moment since she had no idea what it all meant.

"Something's obviously changing about Ashildr due to Fenric's death and our bandaged friend there is temporarily confused by it, Clara. Now's the time to try to take her from him before he suddenly decides that she's still on the menu," The Doctor advised from behind her as he finally caught up to her at last.

Clara looked at Ashildr closely for a moment and was automatically relieved when she saw that she was still breathing. She was definitely going to be alright then. She was sure of it. She had seen go through far worse than this before and still survive after all.

"I can do even better than that. I think it's time that I sent Soldier Boy here home. That should give Ashy plenty of time to sort it out while we're away," Clara said confidently as she hit a button on her Vortex Manipulator and rapidly vanished.

As the Foretold disappeared right along with her in the exact same instant, the Doctor sighed in relief. The undead warrior had faithfully followed the flag that Clara had with her right back to his proper time and place, and the potential danger to the Web of Time that he had posed had left right along with him.

It truly was all over with now.

It wasn't until he heard a resounding thud echoing throughout the corridor that the Doctor realized that he had completely forgotten about Ashildr. He hadn't even attempted to catch her before her head hit the floor.

The Doctor looked at the now prostrate woman in front of him with a brief look of sympathy as he said, "Yes, sorry about that. I'm afraid I deleted you from my mind the moment that I knew Clara was safe from Fenric. Still it shouldn't do any lasting damage though. You still have the Mire inside of you repairing everything for you. You'll wake up feeling nothing but a bad headache at the most."

"I guess it's a good thing for Ashy that I'm along for the ride too then just in case someone conveniently decides to just leave her behind somewhere simply because she's not Clara. I mean I love Clara too but she's not the only person in the universe. Other people matter too, Doctor," Eleanor said in a furious voice as she slowly lifted Ashildr up off of the floor with a strength that completely belied her outer appearance.

"Oh, he's always like this with his precious Earth girls. He obsesses over them to the point of distraction. It used to drive me even more bonkers than usual way back in the good old UNIT days although I could definitely see why you had an eye for the lovely Miss Grant. She was always rather fetching in those short little mini skirts of hers. The Doctor always did have an eye for a tight skirt," Missy said with a smirk as she finally joined the others at last.

"I was only friends with Jo," The Doctor protested even as he silently hoped that Clara wasn't listening.

"Yes, I know. Back then you still couldn't allow yourself to fall in love with them could you? You had that whole no hanky panky policy going on. Somehow that all seemed to fade away when you met the delightful Rose Tyler though. Not that I can blame you for that too much. I saw a picture of her once in Harriet Jones' files. Now there was a total fox . . . or should I say wolf? Do you think our Clara knows about her?" Missy said with a playful air.

"I thought you actually wanted the two of us together. Why are you already trying to break us apart?" The Doctor said in an angry voice.

"I said I wanted you together. I never said anything about not causing you any trouble though. Besides what's a relationship without a little lover's spat every now and then, hmm? It's nowhere near as fun that's what," Missy said with an evil smile.

"You just can't stand to see me happy can you? Not even for a single moment," The Doctor said in an accusatory tone.

"Well, that's just too bad then because she's going to be seeing a whole lot more of it from now on. In fact maybe you should leave right now, Missy, before Mr. Grim and I start doing things that definitely would only be suitable for a mature audience in a minute," Clara said as she came walking down the corridor with a seductive smile on her face that was aimed directly at the Doctor.

"Didn't you hear anything that I just said, Clara? Aren't you the slightest bit curious about any of the women that have been on this mobile junk heap before you in the past?" Missy asked with an annoyed look on her face.

"You mean like the redhead with the legs that go on for miles? Nope, already seen her. The TARDIS showed me pictures of some of them when I first met the Doctor even though it didn't exactly give me any names to go along with their faces. I saw a cute blonde that could melt butter with her smile too who I think I just ran into in person not too long ago. Was that the same legendary Rose Tyler that both you and Jack Harkness practically seem to worship, Old Man?" Clara said as she gave the Doctor a knowing smile.

"You actually saw her?" The Doctor asked with a surprised look.

"Yeah, I couldn't possibly miss her since she was glowing brighter than the sun at the time. She tried to comfort me when I was lost in time and space for a while right after I met Question Mark Man," Clara admitted.

"Yes, she does that," The Doctor said with a fond smile.

Clara laughed as she turned back to Missy and said, "Now her I might have actually been a bit jealous of if she didn't already have a Doctor of her own with her somewhere. Then again she did try to help me when I really needed it the most so I kind of doubt it. It wasn't just her and Legs that the TARDIS showed me either. There was another slightly older redhead than Legs who looked like she could crack a Dalek in two with a single angry look. There was also School Girl standing in front of the Eiffel Tower with Scarf Boy, a pretty brunette in an Andy Pandy outfit, and another picture of the same woman when she was older but still gorgeous standing next to a tin dog with a bunch of kids behind her. I bet I really would have liked her. Oh, and there was also Victorian Girl, Swingin' Sixties Lady with her amazing pair of Go Go Boots, Stewardess Woman, Leela, Ace, and dozens more. I already know all about River and Queen Elizabeth I too. Ashildr could probably tell me all about the rest of them if I really wanted to know since she's silently watched over all of them. I'm not jealous at all though because I'm not naive, Missy. I know better than anyone that he had a life before me. Several of them in fact. It doesn't bother me though because that was all in the past. Now it's just going to be me and only me for the rest of his lives," Clara said with a completely unconcerned smile.

Missy looked absolutely livid for a moment and then her entire demeanor seemingly changed in the blink of an eye as she smiled and said, "Well, it's about time, poppet. I thought I'd never get done trying to bring you two together."

"I've passed the final test it seems," Clara observed as she studied Missy's expression closely.

Was the Time Lady actually happy for her?

No, she had to be misreading her somehow. There was simply no way that could possibly be true.

Then Missy suddenly looked deathly serious as she said in a hard voice, "Be sure and stay with him this time, Clara. If you ever leave him again, I'll make being scattered across the Doctor's timestream look like a vacation at Brighton in comparison to what I do to you next."

"Looks like you were wrong, Doctor. There's definitely no love lost here," Clara said with a frown.

The Doctor sighed as he said, "Sadly this actually is the way that she shows love, Clara. She doesn't seem to know how to do it in any other way anymore."

"Really? And I thought Ashy was bad about that sometimes," Clara said with a grin.

Then her smile immediately faded as she finally saw Eleanor holding the still unconscious Ashildr in her arms out of the corner of her eye. She had been so sure that Ashildr could handle anything based on her past experience with her that she had just naturally assumed that she would be perfectly fine by the time that she returned.

Why wasn't she fine now?

"Doctor, Ashildr's not moving. Why isn't she moving? She's always completely recovered from everything that's ever happened to her by this point," Clara said in an anxious voice.

"I think it's going to take quite a bit longer for her to recover from this particular problem, Clara. You don't suddenly get billions of years' worth of lost memories back all at once like that and expect to be mentally stable again in the blink of an eye," The Doctor said in an emotionless tone.

"What? What are you talking about? Why would she suddenly get her memories back?" Clara asked.

Then her jaw dropped as she realized, "It was Fenric. He was the one who was taking her memories from her. It was never anything natural at all was it? He was suppressing them all of these years just so that he could keep her under his control. After all if she couldn't remember any of the people that she loved then he could slowly make her colder and more emotionally detached to the point where eventually she wouldn't care about anyone anymore. That's exactly how he wanted her to be from the start. No wonder she changed so much from the sweet, loving girl that I first met."

"And yet she always loved you no matter what," Jane pointed out.

"That's because Fenric wanted her to watch over and take care of Clara until the time was right for him to claim her. He instilled that idea so firmly in her mind that Ashildr's natural personality survived just enough for her to actually begin to truly love Clara and her alone even when she was incapable of caring about anyone else," The Doctor explained.

"So that was the real Ashildr that I saw whenever she was with Clara. I always thought as much. I never truly believed that cold, distant persona that she displayed towards me and others was actually her. Somehow I instinctively knew that wasn't so. She could never display so much love for Clara and truly be that cold," Jane said with a pleased smile.

"It's not quite as simple as you make it sound. Life's far more complicated than that. You'd be surprised at exactly how fickle some people can be I think. Someone might gladly give their own life in order to save a particular person and still be perfectly capable of sacrificing an entire universe in the very next moment," Missy said with a faraway look in her eyes.

"No, pretty sure that's just you, Psycho Nanny," Clara shot back.

"She's obviously never read my books if she thinks I don't understand the difference between a romantic version of life and reality," Jane mused out loud.

"I think there's something to be said about having a romantic view of life sometimes though," The Doctor said surprising Clara since she wasn't sure if this particular incarnation still felt that way or not.

"I've always been a bit of a romantic at heart," The Doctor admitted with a shrug.

"No! You? Never," Missy said sarcastically.

Clara pointedly ignored her as she said, "So if Ashildr . . . _when_ Ashildr comes to she'll probably start acting more like the person that I first met. Who knows? She might actually be nice to Jane, Eleanor, and the Doctor. Well, maybe not the Doctor."

"So she'll be all happy and cheerful all of the time in other words. Great. Another one. Now I really wish that the Shade had killed her. One of you is quite enough," Missy said as she gave Clara a disapproving look.

Clara became filled with anger now as she said, "I think it's way past time that you leave. Don't you?"

"Don't get on your high horse with me, poppet. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even exist right now. You'd be Fenric's favorite new puppet instead and the Doctor would be dead. I actually used the Quantum Shade and saved the day with it when you would have hesitated in order to save Viking Girl and probably acted too late to save yourself. I did what was necessary when you never would have because deep down despite how questionable the things that you and the Doctor do might be at times you're still a good person. Meanwhile I left good behind in my rear view mirror a long, long time ago. You might show a little more gratitude," Missy said with a smug look.

"Oh, I'll show you gratitude alright. If you get out of here right now, I won't punch every last regeneration that you have left out of you. How about that? That good enough for you?" Clara said with an evil smile.

Missy practically hissed at her in response as she said, "See if I ever help you out again. Next time something happens you're completely on your own so don't even think about calling me for help anymore. You won't get anything more from me."

"How about making a promise that I actually care about instead? Promise that we'll never see you again instead. That would really make my millennium," Clara taunted.

Missy sneered as she said, "You should be so lucky. No, I'm afraid that this is far from the end of the road for the two of us, dear. As long as you're in the Doctor's life, you'll always see me around sooner or later. Next time I may not be so nice either. In fact, I can practically guarantee it."

"And when were you nice again exactly?" Clara quipped.

"I didn't try to kill your new friend Eleanor for one thing. I can't kill Miss Romance over there thanks to her importance to the Web of Time or Viking Girl thanks to the Mire, but I could definitely have a little bit of fun with TARDIS Girl since she's all too human. You never know what I might do the next time that I decide to pay you a visit. Think about it," Missy threatened.

Eleanor couldn't help but feel a cold chill all over her body in response. She wasn't sure if it was from Missy's threat or what Clara might do in response though. Either action equally frightened her if she was being honest with herself.

As if Eleanor's secret fears had finally made it happen for real, Clara finally flew into a rage at last and grabbed Missy hard by the shoulders as she said in a voice that was so cold that even the self-proclaimed Queen of Evil involuntarily shuddered in response, "If you ever hurt her or anyone else I care about in any way, I will hunt you down no matter where you are in time and space and take you straight to Skaro. The Daleks still have a death sentence on your head as I remember. I'm sure they'd gladly execute you all over again and keep doing it over and over afterward just to make sure that it actually took this time. And if that doesn't work, I could always hand you over to Rassilon, the Cybermen, the Daemons, the Autons, the Axons, the Sea Devils, or the Kraal next until one of them finally gets lucky. Remember that you have a very long list of enemies out there who would be all too glad to help me out. Do. You. Understand. Me?"

"Yes," Missy said in a wary voice as she slowly pulled herself out of Clara's grasp and began to carefully move away from her.

"Good. Glad to hear it," Clara said with a grim smile as she casually brushed off Missy's coat and straightened it where she had ruffled it.

Missy had only just begun to understand in that moment just how very different that this Clara was from the one that she had once known. It seemed that this particular version of her was far more like the Doctor than even she realized.

"Age definitely didn't mellow you one bit did it?" Missy said in disbelief.

"Trust me. That was never going to happen," The Doctor couldn't help but comment.

Clara immediately glared at him in response but with nowhere near the same level of intensity that she had displayed towards Missy he noted to his immense relief.

"Not that that's a bad thing of course," He quickly added.

Missy couldn't help but smile now as she said, "The two of you definitely deserve one another. Mr. and Mrs. Grim. You're exactly alike now as far as I can see. I couldn't have made a better choice for you it seems, Doctor. Until next time, dear."

Then she waved at the Doctor with a mischievous grin as she used her Vortex Manipulator to beat a hasty exit out of there.

Clara looked more than a bit insulted now as she said in a highly offended tone, "Where does she get off saying that? I am _not_ Mrs. Grim. There's nothing at all grim about me whatsoever. Right, Stick Man?"

"No of course not. In fact you're far too sunny and cheerful all of the time for my tastes," The Doctor said just a bit too quickly.

"And what's wrong with that?" Clara said in a threatening voice.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," The Doctor replied with a worried look.

Clara finally smiled and kissed him as she said, "Just messing with you. Sorry. I can't help it sometimes."

"Clara, I hope that you didn't take what she said to heart," The Doctor said in a concerned tone as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

Clara shook her head as she said, "No, I know exactly who I am by this point in my life, Doctor, and I've accepted that. I'm no saint but I'm certainly no Missy either."

The Doctor actually smiled now and kissed her as he said, "No, you're not even close."

Then he looked at her intently for a moment with a scrutinizing gaze which caused her to finally say, "What?"

"I was just wondering when it happened," The Doctor said in a thoughtful tone.

"When what happened?" Clara asked curiously.

"When you became The Doctor," The Doctor said with a face filled with pride.

Clara smiled and her heart filled with joy as she said in an emotional voice, "Do you know how long I've waited to hear that from this particular version of you?"

"Far too long I suppose. I'm sorry, Clara. I just didn't want to encourage you because I didn't want you to become anything like me. I guess that's not entirely a bad thing though sometimes," The Doctor admitted.

"Of course not. I mean you are pretty amazing. There are plenty of worse role models out there to pick from, yeah?" Clara said with a sly grin.

"That's true. That's definitely true," The Doctor said smugly.

"Good thing for me I never copied your fashion sense though. I definitely don't look good in rainbow coats, mile long scarves, or decorative vegetables," Clara said with a chuckle.

"I find it hard to believe that you could ever look bad in anything," The Doctor admitted as he began to lovingly stroke her face.

A feeling of complete peace and contentment filled Clara's heart in that moment that she hadn't felt in a very long time. If she hadn't currently been worried about Ashildr, she might have almost considered her life to be absolutely perfect in that moment.

And that was a sense of inner joy that she hadn't thought that she could ever have back again. It had vanished on the same day that she had lost her mother.

It felt so good to feel that close to true happiness once again.

She was abruptly broken out of her thoughts at that moment as Ashildr cried out, "Essie!"

Ashildr's eyes slowly opened and she briefly looked up at Eleanor in confusion as the former TARDIS said in a warm voice, "It's okay. It's all over with now. You're safe."

"Clara?" Ashildr said with concern as she gently pulled herself out of Eleanor's arms.

"Over here. I'm fine too," Clara reassured her.

Ashildr finally smiled with relief then as she said, "You actually did it."

"Was there ever any doubt? Fenric never even stood a chance against me. I'm just that good," Clara said with a smile of superiority that she definitely didn't feel.

"You're so full of it," Ashildr said as she started to laugh.

Clara put her finger to her lips and said with a wicked smile, "Let's just keep that our little secret, okay?"

Then she became serious as she said, "Are you okay?"

Ashildr began to spin around with joy as she said in an elated voice, "I'm fine. Better than I've been since the day I died in fact. I finally feel like me again and I don't mean Me either. I mean Ashildr. I'm Ashildr! I remember, Clara. I remember everything."

To Jane's welcome surprise, Ashildr actually hugged her tightly and said, "Thank you for always being there for her . . . and for putting up with me. I know that I didn't always treat you like I should have."

"That's all in the past now. I'm just glad that you're alright. You mean a lot to her and that automatically makes you important to me as well," Jane said with a pleased smile that automatically made Ashildr hug her all over again in gratitude.

Then Ashildr hugged Eleanor next as she said, "And thank you for always taking care of us."

"You never have to thank me for that, Ash," Eleanor said as she gratefully returned her hug.

"Oh, no. She's a hugger now," The Doctor said in horror as he started slowly backing away from her.

"Don't worry about it. I definitely haven't changed that much," Ashildr said with such a look of such intense distaste that it instantly made Clara laugh in response.

"So you really remember everything?" Clara asked as she started to feel so happy for Ashildr in that moment because she knew just how much that had truly bothered her over the centuries.

She had been very good at pretending that she didn't care but she did. She had always felt like half a person because of her constantly vanishing memories.

Ashildr continued on happily as she said, "I remember being Ashildr and living the life of a farmer. I even remember the village that I lived in and just how much that I loved the people there especially my father. I really truly remember him now, Clara. He's not just some name in my journal that I don't even recognize anymore. He has a face now and a voice and I remember exactly how much he loved me. I . . . also remember Essie, Johann, and Rue. How they lived and how they . . . I – I remember."

She suddenly began crying now as Clara explained to the others, "They were her children. The ones who died from the Plague."

"I could never remember them. My own . . . I . . ." Ashildr said in a voice somehow filled with both pain and joy at the same time.

"It's okay," Clara said as she rushed forward to comfort her.

"Yes, it is okay. Even though it's tearing me apart inside to remember what happened to them again I would never have it any other way. I want to remember. I want to remember all of it. That's what makes me who I am and that's why I was so heartless before. I was missing the most vital parts of what made me a person. A person is the sum of their memories, Clara," Ashildr said in a voice filled with what might also be described as pure bliss.

She truly hadn't known what she had been missing until it had been returned to her.

Even as Ashildr celebrated however, Clara could see an overwhelming sense of loss gradually come over the Doctor's face while he watched her. She instantly knew exactly what he was thinking in that moment just as she always did.

"You'll get them back again, Doctor. One day you'll remember everything. And even if you don't, we can always make new memories and just start over from there. All that matters is that we're together again. Understand?" Clara said in a voice filled with faith.

The Doctor nodded but still looked bothered by the whole thing. Clara knew that he was never truly going to be satisfied until he was whole once more.

Somehow she had to find a way to return the Doctor's memories to him, but she had absolutely no idea how.

That was a problem for another time however. Right now she just wanted to enjoy this wonderful, peaceful moment while she still could.

And why shouldn't she? She finally had almost everything that she had ever wanted at last. She had the Doctor back again, she never had to go back to the trap street in order to die one day, and she was finally free from Fenric forever. On top of all of that Ashildr was actually acting like a normal person for the first time since the day she first met her.

Recovering the Doctor's memories might be hard and could even turn out to be impossible, but she wasn't about to let that bring her down right now. She finally had the life that she had always wanted again and not even missing memories were going to keep him from fully living and enjoying every moment.

Not now. Not ever.

The worry seemed to fade from the Doctor's face, at least for now anyway, as he eagerly smiled at her. Based on his next question, he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

"So where to next, Boss?" He asked.

It was Ashildr who answered instead though as she pleaded, "Actually I have someone that I have to go see first, Doctor. I – I owe him an apology for never loving him like I should have. It's long past time that I finally did something about that."

Clara could already see the Doctor starting to frown and knew that he was about to say no at any moment.

"Doctor, that's where I want to go next. Take her whereever she needs to go, alright?" Clara asked.

The Doctor briefly looked like she wanted to protest and then he finally nodded and said, "Yes, of course. This is the only trip you get though. Then I'm going to take Clara somewhere next."

Ashildr looked at him with undisguised gratitude as she said, "Understood. I just . . . I just needed to see my son Will again to apologize for never being there for him. I thought it would be much easier on me to never have any regular contact with him. I wouldn't feel a sense of loss that way when he eventually died."

"Your son? You had another one besides Johann and Rue?" Clara asked in bewilderment since this was the first that she had ever heard of him.

"Yes, his name was William but you might know him better by the last name of the family that adopted him from me. Shakespeare," Ashildr said causing everyone there except the Doctor to look at her in absolute shock.

"That explains a lot about him actually. I always wondered how even a man as brilliant as he was knew all of the things that he did. There were things that he couldn't possibly have known about just based on his own life experiences alone. If his mother was an immortal who had already lived through several different lifetimes however . . ." The Doctor said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Shut up and look properly surprised like the rest of us, Old Man," Clara ordered with an amused grin on her face that she quickly tried to hide as she pretended to be annoyed with him.

"Yes, Boss," The Doctor said with a brief smile.

He definitely didn't need his memories to know why he had loved her so much.

 **Next: And yet he still wants them back again. Can the Doctor actually pull it off? What lengths will the Doctor be willing to go to in order to remember Clara once again and exactly how angry is she going to be with him when she finds out what he has planned? That's assuming of course that he's still in one piece afterward. We'll also find out more about the relationship between Shakespeare and Ashildr as she desperately tries to make up for lost time. Will he even want her to though? As if that wasn't enough, we'll also find out what happens to Eleanor's outer shell too. Will it ever be repaired and even if it is what will that mean for Eleanor now that she's finally free from the influence of both Fenric and Akhaten at last? Will she chose to continue to live as a human or attempt to become whole once again? Does she really even have a chance of becoming a TARDIS once more and would she take it if she did?**


	8. Bloodlines

CHAPTER 8

I do not own Doctor Who or the song 867-5309 and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews.

BLOODLINES

"What on Earth are you humming over there, Ashy?" Clara said in amusement as she heard Ashildr cheerfully humming the same set of musical notes to herself over and over again for what seemed to be the billionth time that day.

The Doctor had told them that thanks to some especially bad turbulence in the Vortex due to the temporal winds being even worse than usual that it would probably take several hours for them to reach Will's time so Ashildr had decided to make herself useful. She had been dutifully working on repairing her own TARDIS' damaged console ever since.

Luckily Clara had managed to talk the Doctor into materializing his TARDIS around Eleanor's outer shell so that they could take it with them when they left even though having one TARDIS inside of another could potentially lead to catastrophic problems. Naturally the enormous diner has been relocated to one of the TARDIS' many voluminous storage rooms somewhere in its lower levels.

This particular storage room however was huge even by TARDIS standards though Clara thought to herself as she looked around it with undisguised awe. You could easily fit twelve buildings the size of her diner in there and still have room leftover for an extra soccer stadium or two.

Ashildr had to have been working nonstop for at least twelve hours by this point if not longer and yet every time Clara had come downstairs from the Console Room and peeked inside the diner to check on her progress or bring her something to eat she had still found her friend happily humming that same merry little tune to herself. Ashildr's attitude had definitely changed tremendously since regaining her memories because she couldn't imagine her old Ashildr ever having a smile on her face for that long for any reason.

To her surprise, Clara actually found herself wondering if this constant cheerfulness of Ashildr's was going to wind up even getting on her nerves eventually if she kept it up for much longer. She was nowhere near as grumpy as the Doctor, but there was only so much mindless happiness that even she could take before she just wanted to punch a hole in a wall after all.

Maybe Missy had been right after all. Maybe she really had become Mrs. Grim now Clara thought to herself with a wicked smile.

Clara now realized that Ashildr was looking up at her with an absentminded look on her face as if she had completely forgotten that she was there. She really had been lost in her own little world for a while.

Finally Ashildr blinked and came back to reality with a warm smile on her face as she said, "Oh, that? It's just a little something from my childhood that I had completely forgotten about until my memories returned. My mother used to hum it all of the time while she worked when I was growing up. I have no idea what the name of it is though. She never did tell me. I just always assumed that it was some old hymn or war song from her home village. It's very catchy isn't it? I didn't even realize that I was humming it until you brought it up."

"The beat sounds surprisingly modern to come from your home time though doesn't it? In fact it almost sounds familiar to me somehow. It's like I've heard it somewhere before," Clara said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"What?" Ashildr asked curiously as she studied Clara's face closely.

Ashildr knew exactly what that look meant from many long centuries of having lived with her. Clara had just realized that she had stumbled onto something important, but she hadn't quite worked out what it was just yet.

What in the world could be so important about some long forgotten song from her childhood though?

Clara shook her head and quickly dismissed whatever idea that she had been entertaining though as she said, "It's nothing I'm sure. It's just one of those annoying earworms that get stuck in your head and won't leave you alone until you finally figure out what it is. I can't imagine how an old Viking song would get stuck in my head but considering how many times and places that I've traveled to in the last couple of centuries I suppose it's possible that I might have heard it somewhere before and just forgot about it until now."

"Of course it is. I may have even hummed it before without realizing it once or twice and you heard it then. Is it really that important?" Ashildr asked impatiently.

She really wanted to fix Eleanor's shell as quickly as possible so that it would be ready by the time they reached Will's time. She couldn't wait to show it to him. She privately hoped that maybe he'd even want to travel with her a little because she had so many things that she wanted to show him and share with him from throughout time and space. She was sure that Clara wouldn't mind if she went off in the diner by herself for a while.

Clara shrugged as she said, "No, I suppose not. It's just that when I don't know something like that it continues to bug me until I eventually figure it out. That's just the way that I am."

"Yes, I know. Little Miss Know It All has to automatically know everything or it just drives her up the wall. You just can't stand not to be the smartest person in the room can you?" Ashildr said in a teasing tone.

Clara frowned as she did her best to hide the smile that was threatening to come over her face at that moment and said, "Excuse me but I'm nowhere near that bad. I think you must have me confused with the Old Man. That's more his sort of thing than mine. I could care less about showing off how smart I am to everyone."

"Uh, huh," Ashildr said with a knowing grin.

"Shut up," Clara said in a threatening tone that was completely undermined by the warm smile that had finally made its way to her face by this point.

Then Ashildr's own face suddenly became completely serious as she said in a heartfelt tone, "I really like being able to banter this way with you now. This . . . This just feels so right. We're so much closer now just like I've always wanted us to be. This is the way sisters should behave."

"Sisters, huh?" Clara said with a pleased look.

"Yes, sisters. That's always what we've been even when I was an annoying, obnoxious prick who tried to constantly tell you what to do," Ashildr said in a hopeful tone that suggested to Clara that she suddenly wasn't sure if she felt the same way or not.

"You're much too hard on yourself, Ashy. You weren't that bad," Clara said with a reassuring smile.

Then her smile became an evil one as she quickly added without skipping a beat, "I mean you weren't really annoying. An obnoxious prick, sure. Not an annoying one though."

"You little . . . !" Ashildr said in a false tone of anger as she pretended to take a swing at Clara's arm and purposely missed.

Both women laughed and then hugged one another as Clara said, "And for the record I feel like we're sisters too."

"I always wanted a sister. I thought if I had one though that she would probably be blonde like my mother. I always loved her hair. I used to think that it was so beautiful when I was a child. It's one of the things that I remember most about her," Ashildr said with a far-off look on her face.

Clara was definitely intrigued now since up until this moment she had known nothing about Ashildr's mother whatsoever, and she wasn't so sure that Ashildr had either until she had recovered her memories. She certainly had never talked about her at any rate.

"I had completely forgotten about her until now. Just like my father," Ashildr said in a sad voice as she immediately confirmed what Clara had already suspected.

"What do you remember about her now?" Clara asked.

"Not a whole lot unfortunately because she left us when I was very young. I couldn't have been any more than four or five years old at the most. I just have a few vague memories of her that don't really add up to a whole lot. I just remember that she was blonde and very beautiful and she seemed to have a knack for crafting and repairing things just like me. My father always said that I got all of my imagination and intelligence from her but other than that he never talked that much about her so I didn't really learn anything from him either. He just said that she had to suddenly leave us in order to protect us, but he would never go into any detail about it. I was never sure if he didn't want to talk about her because whatever happened to her was so painful for him or if she had sworn him to secrecy for some reason. Either way I couldn't help but wonder if the reason he wouldn't talk about it was because she was going to return and tell me the truth herself one day. I kept waiting for that my entire childhood, Clara, because I never did feel as if she were really gone for good thanks to the way that she left us. I was sure that she would come walking back through our front door again one day if I just waited long enough but she never did. Do you want to know something really crazy? Now that I remember her again I'm still waiting for her even though I know that there's no possible chance that I'll ever see her again now. Have you ever heard of anything that sad?" Ashildr said in an emotional voice.

Clara immediately wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly as she said in a voice filled with understanding, "Yeah, I have. Do you want to know a secret? Part of me is still looking for my mother to do the exact same thing and I actually do know what happened to her."

"Well, we both need to stop it don't we? We're both way, way past childhood by now so we should just stop expecting something to happen that we know for sure is impossible. It suppose it's finally time that we grew up, isn't it?" Ashildr said in a more controlled voice.

"Uh, hello? Do you remember who you're talking to, Ashy? Never going to happen," Clara said with a wicked smile that instantly made Ashildr laugh.

Then Clara became absolutely serious as she said, "You of all people should know there is no such thing as the impossible, Ashildr. I'm living proof of that. Never give up on that dream of yours no matter how crazy it might seem because one day it just might happen."

Ashildr nodded and her eyes teared up as she gave Clara an appreciative look then she began to smile as she said with a chuckle, "Well, I finally did get a sister so I suppose you're right. Anything really is possible."

"There you go. Always think positive," Clara said as she kissed Ashildr's cheek.

It was amazing how their entire relationship had suddenly changed now. Instead of acting like Clara's extremely overprotective mother/older sister as she had for so many centuries thanks to Fenric she had now seemingly slipped into the role of Clara's younger (even if she was far, far older) sister instead. Clara found that she definitely preferred Ashildr in this role and couldn't help but wonder if this was how their relationship would have developed if the Doctor had just taken Ashildr traveling with them in the first place from the day that he had made her immortal.

It was almost as if things had been set right again somehow, and everything was finally as it should be.

"So is my console almost ready?" Eleanor suddenly asked from behind them in such an abrupt manner that it made them both jump at once.

"Well, someone's certainly all jittery today aren't they? Sorry about that," Eleanor said with a chuckle.

Then to her welcome surprise Ashildr immediately rushed forward to hug her causing the former TARDIS to say, "The Doctor was actually right about something for once it seems. You've definitely become a hugger now alright."

"Am I bothering you by doing that? I just . . . I just feel as if I should let everyone know how I feel about them now after acting so cold towards all of you for so long," Ashildr said in an apologetic voice.

Eleanor smiled at her reassuringly as she said in a voice filled with warmth, "It's fine, Ash. I don't mind it at all. I'm just still not used to it yet is all. You hug me all you want though. Unlike some people on this ship I'm not afraid of open displays of affection. Show the Doctor an entire army of Daleks who are all bent on killing him and he's just fine, but just once try to tell him how you feel and he runs for the hills according to Idris. I honestly don't know how she puts up with that man. I definitely prefer my two girls instead."

Both Clara and Ashildr smiled at her in appreciation even as Clara couldn't help but think that maybe they had both gotten their wish after all even if Eleanor wasn't exactly the mother that they had been waiting for.

Eleanor reluctantly ruined what she sensed was somehow a special moment for her two girls as she asked yet again, "So is the console almost ready?"

Ashildr nodded as she said, "Yes, I just need to make a few last minute adjustments, and your outer shell should be as good as new again. It should be ready to travel on its own in no time. I've also finally fixed that broken Chameleon Circuit of yours too while I was at it. At least I think I have anyway. I'm still not quite an expert on that particular piece of equipment just yet."

"Ashy, I thought I told you that I never wanted you to fix that. I like the diner just as it is," Clara said with a frown.

"It's almost impossible to land it properly in that form though. How many times have we almost wiped something out by almost materializing on top of it or too close to it over the centuries, Clara? Now we can finally control the shape and size of this ship at last so it's not so incredibly unwieldy anymore. We should make her into something smaller like the Doctor's police box from now on I think," Ashildr proposed.

"You just have no sense of nostalgia at all do you, Ashy?" Clara said with a sigh.

"It's alright, Clara. I don't mind if you change my appearance. I was getting a bit tired of being that diner anyway. A little diversity will do me some good I think when I return back to normal," Eleanor said.

Both Clara and Ashildr looked at her in stunned surprise now as she said in a nervous voice, "Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that before now shouldn't I?"

"You can't do this," Clara said with a devastated look.

"Clara," Eleanor said in a soft voice as she started to embrace Clara.

"No! You're not doing it I said," Clara said defiantly as she moved away from her.

"You don't need to do this, Eleanor. Your outer shell will work just fine even without this portion of your mind being there to help guide it. You still have a connection to your Matrix even now after all so there really is no need to merge back together again. You could stay this way for good with no ill effects as far as I can see," Ashildr said in a much calmer voice as she tried to reason with her.

"And then I'll die in a few decades after this human body of mine finally wears out and leave both of you with a TARDIS that's only half as efficient as it should be. What's left of me will never be the same again if that happens and you know it. I need to be whole again so that I can continue to look after both of you properly," Eleanor explained.

"We don't even need your shell anymore anyway though. We're both with the Doctor now. He can take us wherever we need to go from now on and the Old Cow can look after us. So you see you're just fine as you are aren't you?" Clara protested.

"And how do you know that you won't somehow get separated from the Doctor again someday after I'm gone? It happened once before so it could easily happen again one day. No, I need to be sure because Victoria was right, Clara. Traveling with the Doctor is practically inviting disaster to come your way on a daily basis, and you're all too willing to ignore that fact just to be with him again. I always need to be there to look after you myself so that you don't have to find out the hard way whether you can still die or not," Eleanor said stubbornly.

"You can't. I . . . I won't be able to talk to you anymore or to know how you're feeling. If you do this, I won't . . . I won't have a . . ." Clara said as she dissolved into tears.

Eleanor began crying too now as she realized what Clara was trying to say. She felt the exact same way but she hadn't been certain if Clara and Ashildr had until that very moment.

So this was what being a parent felt like.

Somehow Eleanor managed to control her emotions just enough that she was able to speak once more (which was no mean feat since she was still so new to this whole being human thing) as she said, "I'll miss being able to interact with you like this too, Clara. Don't think that I wont."

Then she grabbed Clara and Ashildr's hands and squeezed them tightly as she said, "I love being able to do something like this. It's such a simple thing but it means the world to someone who was once unable to have any sort of meaningful relationship with the people who traveled with her. I knew that I loved you and cared for you but I never truly understood you until I became one of you. I don't want to risk losing that understanding or the ability to tell you whatever is on my mind at any moment. I truly don't."

"Don't then. Stay with us. Please," Clara said in a frightened voice as she held onto Eleanor's hand tightly.

Eleanor shook her head even though part of her wanted to give in if only to take that horrifying look of loss out of Clara's eyes as she said, "It needs to be done though no matter how hard it will be on all of us. My outer shell will probably die as soon as my human self does one day and even if it doesn't it will never be as efficient as it once was. It will basically be just an ordinary lifeless machine without my consciousness there to guide it."

"We've still got a few decades left before that happens though so maybe we can come up with some other solution before then, yeah? Why don't we at least give that a shot before you do anything rash?" Clara pleaded.

"Clara," Eleanor said with a sigh as she realized that she was never going to change her mind about this.

"I can't lose you and neither can Ashy. We both need you. Don't worry. I'll find some way to make your human self immortal somehow. I'm sure I can find something. Maybe I can look for some more Mire technology somewhere," Clara suggested hopefully.

"Fine. I'll give you a little longer to look. I'm not waiting until I'm an old woman though," Eleanor warned.

"Thank you. That's all I needed," Clara said happily as she eagerly hugged the former TARDIS tightly.

"I'm not sure how you could have merged together again anyway. I thought it was impossible for you to go back again judging by the way that you were acting before," Ashildr said in a confused voice.

Eleanor's eyes and hands briefly glowed for a moment then as she said, "I was always able to go back again. I have just enough Vortex energy left over even in this form to do the job. I just didn't want to do it while both of you were in danger from Fenric and Akhaten, and I certainly didn't want to become a helpless part of a shell that they fully controlled. Now that that threat is finally over with though I could return as soon as the console is fully repaired again. I'll wait though until Clara has had some time to think of another way. I won't wait forever though."

"I understand," Clara said even as she could see that Eleanor was definitely not a fan of this idea.

She didn't care though. She liked Eleanor just as she was now, and she didn't want that to ever change. Not for anything.

A sudden burst of inspiration hit her in that moment as she thought that maybe she already knew of a way to help Eleanor . . . or at least she knew someone who would surely know of one anyway.

"No," Ashildr said in a defiant voice as she instantly realized what Clara was up just from the look on her face.

Clara couldn't help but smile at Ashildr's uncanny ability to read her thoughts. They really were sisters weren't they?

"What do you mean no? I haven't even said anything yet," Clara said in a completely innocent tone even though she knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You don't have to. I already know who you're going to talk to and I said no. You're not bringing her into this. She's nothing but trouble, Clara, plus she never takes no for an answer. I would have thought that you would have had enough of her the last time that we saw her," Ashildr said in an exasperated voice.

Clara sighed as she said, "I guess it was too much to hope for that you'd stop trying to be my extra bossy older sister completely wasn't it? Listen, Ashy, I have to do this. She's the only one who might know how we can help Eleanor. I mean she's _his_ daughter and he was there when they created the very first TARDIS wasn't he? Surely she has to know something about them that the average Time Lord on the street doesn't? She's helped me out plenty of times before so why not give it a try? It's worth all of the irritation and annoyance that it's going to cause if it keeps Eleanor with us isn't it?"

"Don't tell me. She's the one who helped you break into the Matrix without getting caught all of those times isn't she? I should have known. You don't know that she's going to be that helpful this time around though. She might not know any more about this particular situation than we do, and then we'll have to put up with her for who knows how long until she finally decides to leave again. It's not worth it, Clara," Ashildr protested.

"Who are the two of you talking about and why does she already sound like the most unpleasant of guests?" Jane asked as she suddenly entered the room.

"Maybe that's because she is. If Clara is actually foolish enough to call her, she'll wind up driving both her and Ash completely mad before she's through. That is if the Doctor doesn't throw her out into the Vortex first. In fact you might just help him yourself once you see what she's like," Eleanor said with a look of deep despair on her face.

"Exactly what is it about this woman that is so reprehensible?" Jane asked in confusion.

"Reprehensible, eh? That's a new one. I'll have to add that one to my mental checklist. I've been called a lot of things before but never reprehensible. That's definitely more high class than I'm used to. I must be moving up in the universe," A woman's voice said in amusement from behind them.

"I'd rather you just move out of the universe instead," Ashildr mumbled to herself in a low voice.

"What was that, dear? I don't speak jealous prick I'm afraid so I'm going to need a translator," The woman said with a chuckle.

"I'd be glad to translate with my fist, you little . . . !" Ashildr said in a furious voice.

"Ashy, let's not do anything rash especially since we need Arissa's help," Clara said with a tight smile on her face as she immediately placed herself between the two women while Arissa smirked at Ashildr in triumph.

It took all of Ashildr's willpower to keep herself from wiping that look off of her face by knocking her unconscious as she said to Clara in a furious voice, "You activated that temporal homing beacon that she gave you the first time you met didn't you? That's the only way that she could have found us this quickly. Thank you so much for that. I knew I should have thrown that thing into the heart of the nearest star as soon as I had the chance."

"You're in your usual good mood I see. Never change, Ashildr. Your jaw might just fall off and hit the floor if you ever decided to smile," The woman said with a chuckle.

"Actually she's been smiling quite a bit more lately because she's regained her old personality along with her memories, Arissa. Wait until I tell you all about it. You might just end up changing your mind about her," Clara said in a defensive voice.

"Really? Are you sure about that, dear? She hasn't even come close to having an actual expression once since I've been here," Arissa said in a voice dripping with disdain.

"Maybe that's because unlike you I actually have to have a reason to smile, and I certainly don't have one now," Ashildr quickly shot back.

"Yeah, just ignore her, Time Princess. I have something much more important to talk to you about than Ashildr's sense of humor," Clara said with a good-natured smile.

She actually did like Arissa despite Ashildr's frequent clashes with her because despite her sometimes clingy and obsessive nature and an inability to take no for an answer she really wasn't that bad of a person. She just wanted someone in her life who truly cared about her and apparently had never found them from the way that she acted. That was hardly surprising with a father like hers though. It was a wonder Arissa had turned out as well adjusted as she had after being raised by that tyrant.

Arissa quickly nodded as she said in a much more genial tone, "I gathered as much. What can I help you with, my sweet Clara? You know I'd do anything for you . . . and I do mean anything. Or did you call me here to finally admit your true feelings for me at last? Is this the day that I can finally make a special announcement about us to my father?"

Clara immediately backed away from her as she said in a disturbed voice, "Uh . . . No, sorry."

Arissa instantly gave her a warm reassuring smile in response because she didn't want to push her luck as she said, "Oh, well. I had to try didn't I?"

Then as if she were only just noticing them for the first time Arissa turned to look at Jane and Eleanor with an undeniable look of jealousy on her face that seemed especially aimed towards Jane as she said, "Who are your new friends, dear? Anyone special that I should know about?"

As Ashildr noticed the open expression of stunned disbelief on Jane's face at Arissa's behavior, she whispered to her, "It isn't you. She's always automatically jealous of any new person in Clara's life, male or female. She's been like this towards all of Clara's traveling companions. She made poor Osgood so nervous that she would always go and hide in her room every time that she visited. I can't really say that I blame her too much for that. Arissa was even jealous of me the first time that I met her."

"And here we go. Like I didn't see this coming a mile away. Listen, Clara, I really don't care to be a part of her little games anymore. I'll be upstairs once this has all blown over and she's gone back home again," Eleanor said with a frown as she started to walk away.

"Wait, Eleanor. You're the reason I called her here in the first place," Clara said as she tried her best to keep the ex-TARDIS from leaving.

"Oh, is she? And who would she be exactly?" Arissa asked once more in an intrigued voice.

"Believe it or not she's my capsule's Matrix who's been given a human form, Time Princess. She still has a connection to her shell though so it's not like she's completely lost all of her abilities. I want to make her body immortal so that she can stay this way for good because I actually prefer her this way, and I think she does too even if she's too stubborn to admit it. Do you have any ideas on how to do that?" Clara asked in a hopeful tone.

"I might," Arissa said enigmatically in a way that clearly told Clara that she wasn't going to give that information away for free.

No, this time she definitely expected something in return, and she had a very bad feeling that she knew exactly what that something was going to be. She really should have listened to Ashildr this time.

This was not going to go well at all.

Jane meanwhile had said nothing up until now as she used this time to get a good look at their latest guest even as she fought the urge to ask her how she had entered the TARDIS in mid-flight. She had long ago grown used to the idea that practically anything could happen once you entered the Doctor and Clara's world whether it made any actual sense or not and had given up trying to figure out the how or why of it all.

Basically she just accepted things for what they were now and quietly moved on without dwelling too much on the imponderable nature of it all. That was the only way to keep your sanity intact on a journey in the TARDIS she had found.

Jane couldn't help but feel a sense of jealousy similar to Arissa's own (even though she already knew who Clara truly loved) as soon as she saw that the TARDIS' latest inhabitant with her seemingly ageless features, long lustrous red hair, and bright blue eyes was unnaturally beautiful. So much so in fact that if she had suddenly stated that she had descended from Mount Olympus Jane wouldn't even have blinked an eye. She was every inch a goddess even though she suspected that she came from a much more terrestrial origin.

Jane now finally decided to speak at last as she said to Arissa with a curtsey, "You are a Time Lady I take it based on what little that I've been able to discern about your background from your conversations with one another? The daughter of Rassilon as well if I'm not mistaken. I am Jane Austen of Earth. It's very nice to meet you, my lady."

She instantly got an extremely grateful look from Clara in response that she couldn't help but smile at. It had been obvious to her that Clara was becoming extremely uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation and was more than happy to have a little break from it for a while.

As soon as Jane spoke, Arissa immediately began to look her up and down and study her closely as if she were committing every inch of her to memory. The Time Lady had such a degree of intensity on her face that Jane almost felt as if she had just become an unwitting specimen in some sort of inhuman lab experiment.

Finally Arissa spoke to her at last after a tense moment of uncomfortable silence between them as she said, "Yes, I've heard of you, Miss Austen. Clara talks about you all of the time and I can tell that she thinks very highly of you. Did you know that you're her favorite writer of all time? I'm not so sure that's just because of your literary talents however. You are quite attractive after all. I can definitely see why you'd constantly be on her mind."

"Thank you, my lady. You're quite beautiful yourself," Jane said with a forced smile as she began to wonder if the Time Lady was about to launch some form of verbal assault against her based on the look of pure, undiluted fury that slowly started to creep across her face at that moment.

Then almost as if she could sense Jane's discomfort Arissa immediately smiled at her reassuringly in what Jane thought was an actual heartfelt smile despite the Time Lady's earlier behavior. It seemed that even though she was extremely possessive of Clara that she truly didn't mean Jane any harm.

Or at least she was trying her best to control her anger in front of Clara at any rate.

"Why, thank you, Miss Austen," Arissa said with a hearty laugh.

Then the Time Lady quickly shifted her attention back towards Clara as she asked in a playful manner that contained no trace of malice or anger, "Is she the reason that you always refuse to take our relationship any further, Clara? I suppose I can't blame you really. She seems sweet enough and she's obviously far more intelligent than the average human. I'd like to know the truth though once and for all. Just be honest with me and I promise you that I'll never bring the subject up again. Are you in love with her?"

Jane immediately gasped in surprise at the Time Lady's bluntness as she began to see exactly why Ashildr didn't like her. Was she always this bold?

Clara sighed as she said, "I told you before that I'm just not interested in you in that way, Arissa. I do care about you but only as a friend. Why can't you just accept that and move on?"

"Just answer the question, Clara, and don't even try to lie to me because I'll know. Are you in love with her?" Arissa asked once more in a hard voice as she let the genial smile that she had been wearing slip just a little.

Clara noticeably looked away from both Arissa and Jane as she said in a stern tone, "I already told you why we can't ever be anything more than friends, Arissa."

"Because your heart belongs to another. Yes, I understood that long ago. What I want to know is does it belong to her?" Arissa said as she refused to let the matter drop.

"I warned you that this would happen," Ashildr said to Clara under her breath as she did her best to keep her growing anger towards the Time Lady under control.

"The nature of our relationship, whatever it may be, is none of your business, Lady Arissa," Jane said in a hard voice as she came perilously close to losing her own self-control in that moment.

"I'm making it my business, Miss Austen, because I want a definitive answer once and for all before I'll even think about helping her out with her latest little problem. Why do you really keep refusing my advances, Clara? You seem to enjoy my company and yet whenever I make my intentions toward you clear you always say that you love someone else. Who is it, Clara? I know that it has to be a living flesh and blood person because it can't possibly be this enigmatic Doctor of yours that you've talked so much about. Just be honest with me and I'll gladly let the entire matter go for good. Show me some respect and stop lying to me. You couldn't possibly stay true to the memory of someone that you lost centuries ago for this long. No one would," Arissa said in a defiant tone.

"Clara Oswald would. That's just the kind of person that she is because unlike you she doesn't have a fickle heart. She'd love that man for the rest of eternity and never let anyone else in her heart once if she had even the slightest hope of finding him again. Luckily she doesn't have that problem anymore or haven't you noticed that we're now traveling around inside someone else's capsule?" Ashildr pointed out with a look of pride on her face.

Arissa now looked around her in surprise which only proved that she hadn't noticed since she had materialized inside of the now familiar diner first as she said, "Whose ship is this then?"

"I was wondering when someone would finally remember me. I've been feeling more than a bit neglected up in the Console Room all by myself while everyone else was down here fighting over you, Clara," The Doctor said in an annoyed voice as he suddenly entered the room with a smug looking Eleanor by his side.

Jane's face turned bright red with embarrassment while Clara frowned and talked back to the Time Lord in an equally annoyed voice, "No one is fighting over me, Doctor. The Time Princess here is just being her usual jealous self despite the fact that I've never once lied to her about how I felt about her despite what she thinks."

Clara couldn't help but shake her head at Eleanor. TARDIS Girl had gone off and called in the cavalry it seemed.

"Hello. I'm the 'Time Princess' as Clara calls me. My actual name, if anyone cares to know it, is Arissa and I'm Lord President Rassilon's daughter. I hope that doesn't frighten you too much. That information usually seems to have a particularly undesirable effect on most people for whatever reason whenever I mention it so I thought that I might as well get it out of the way right now. And you are?" Arissa asked the Doctor with a growing tone of uncertainty in her voice because she was sure that she already knew the answer to that question based off of what Ashildr had said earlier.

"I am the Doctor. I believe you've heard of me. I'm the same man that you've just been trying to convince Clara that she couldn't possibly still be in love with a second ago," The Doctor said in a voice that made it clear to her that he was rapidly losing his patience with her.

Especially if she was _his_ daughter.

Clara held her breath now as she waited for the inevitable explosion from Arissa that she was sure was coming.

To her complete and utter astonishment however Arissa looked far from angry or upset though. Instead she actually began to laugh with joy as she said in a voice filled with disbelief, "You actually found him, Clara?"

"Yeah, I did. You see? He's not just a figment of my imagination after all, Princess," Clara said in a chipper tone as she began to smile once more.

"Yes, I can see that. I'm so happy for you, Clara," Arissa said in a voice that was now filled with what Clara could tell was genuine joy.

Then the Time Lady immediately gave Clara an apologetic look as she said with an unmistakeable tone of regret, "I'm sorry, Clara. I was being unbelievably petty. I know that. It's just that . . . I find it extremely hard to let go of my feelings for you, and I thought that maybe you were lying to me in order to keep me from becoming angry with you. I could take anything else but not being lied to because that would mean that you thought so very little of me and only wanted to use me. And I've had enough of people who I thought I could trust using me and lying to me . . . especially my father."

Clara sighed as she realized that her reputation for lying, whether it was deserved or not, was still causing her trouble even now. Even when she was being absolutely honest people still didn't believe her it seemed.

"It's alright. I know that you have trust issues thanks to your not so dear old dad, Princess, so I'm willing to let the whole thing go, okay? Just stop with the psychopathic ex routine and we'll pretend this never happened. Deal?" Clara said in a soft voice as she gave Arissa a hug that immediately brought a smile to the Time Lady's face.

"It's a deal. I really am sorry," Arissa said in an earnest tone.

"I know," Clara said with a small smile as she gave the Time Lady a kiss on the cheek that instantly made her blush.

"I think you're giving her mixed signals, Clara," The Doctor said with a worried look on his face.

"Let's give her a perfectly clear one then," Clara said with a wicked grin as she suddenly wrapped her arms around the Doctor and gave him a long passionate kiss.

As Jane studied Arissa's face closely in that moment, she could actually see a look of resignation slowly settle over the Time Lady's otherwise emotionless features. It was quickly followed by what she was certain was a genuine look of happiness as the Time Lady began to smile from ear to ear.

"Do you think that they'll come up for air sometime soon?" Arissa joked to Jane as she finally noticed her watching her at last.

"Actually Clara doesn't really need to breathe any longer," Jane found herself answering to her instant regret because she couldn't think of anything better to say.

Did it have to be something so unbelievably inane though?

Arissa immediately started to laugh at her as she whispered to her, "You're nervous and unsure of how to act while watching this, aren't you? And yet despite that feeling you're actually grateful that he's with her once more because you want her to be happy no matter what. I know that feeling all too well. Trust me. It bothers me just as much as it does you even if I'm not openly admitting it for Clara's sake. I was right about you after all then it seems. You are in love with her. It appears that I am not the only one whose feelings for her have gone unrequited."

Jane said nothing in response. She really didn't have to after all.

Arissa finally cleared her throat loudly after she realized that Jane wasn't about to admit anything out loud as she said, "Alright, Clara, I get the point. You can stop now. That is if you actually want to listen to what I have to say about your capsule. If you really don't care though, then continue snogging his brains out by all means."

"Snogging?" Jane asked in a questioning tone.

"It means kissing. It's a slang expression from 21st Century Earth that I picked up from Clara. I find a great deal of her time's vernacular has seeped into my everyday speech lately. It drives Father absolutely mad because he says that he can't understand half of the things that I say anymore. I'm honestly not sure why he cares though since he never seems to listen to me anyway. You'd better be careful, Jane, or you might just wind up suffering my fate and have your novels become completely incomprehensible to your Nineteenth Century readers," Arissa said with a chuckle.

"I'll be sure to stay on my guard then. My sister already thinks that she's a negative influence on me as it is," Jane said with a warm smile.

"Now why would she ever believe a thing like that?" Arissa said with a smirk.

It seemed as if the Time Lady were already trying to reach out to Jane in an earnest attempt to let bygones be bygones between them even if she had shifted to addressing her on a first name basis a little faster than she might have liked.

Clara looked at them both in disbelief now as she said to the Doctor, "Well, that was quick wasn't it, Old Man? A few minutes ago they were at each other's throats, and now they're both teaming up against me like they've been doing it all of their lives."

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh at the incredulous look on her face as he said, "I'm just glad that it's happening to somebody besides me for a change."

"Keep laughing, Grimmy, and I'll make sure that Queen Elizabeth has an extra special present for Christmas one year. I'll leave you all tied up outside her castle with a cute little bow on your head. I'm sure she'd just love to see you again after you raced off the way that you did right after marrying her," Clara said with an evil smile.

The Doctor looked at her in surprise as he asked, "How do you know about that?"

Clara couldn't help but look hurt as she said in a numb voice, "I was there."

The Doctor gave her a blank look in response which only made her even more anxious to talk to him and jog his memory as she asked him in an almost desperate voice, "I watched Sandshoes marry her alongside Chin Boy and Granddad. Then we all ran off in the TARDIS together. Sandshoes said that he didn't like how Chin Boy had decorated the TARDIS. Surely you remember that, right? Oh, and a few hours before that you had me scare Elizabeth's men off by pretending to be The Witch of the Well. I threatened to turn them all into frogs. What about how I convinced you not to use the Moment? Do you remember any of that?"

That was a very important memory for her and she had hoped that it would be for him too. Surely he hadn't forgotten that had he?

"Yes, I remember the rest of it but I . . . I don't remember you being there for the wedding for some reason. Why wouldn't I remember that?" The Doctor admitted with a troubled look on his face.

Clara immediately let out an audible sigh of relief as she said, "It's alright, Doctor. If that's all you've forgotten about that day, I'll just consider myself lucky and let it drop, yeah?"

"What else have I forgotten about your travels with me though? I thought that I at least still remembered everything that we did together even if I didn't remember you, but apparently I don't even have a firm grasp on that either," The Doctor said in an upset voice.

"It's no big deal, Doctor. So you forgot that I was at your wedding? Maybe you unconsciously wanted to forget everything about that wedding. I mean she did force you into it," Clara said dismissively.

"It's a big deal to me, Clara, because I've already lost enough information about you as it is. What if I've lost even more than I ever realized?" The Doctor said with a devastated look on his face.

"Doctor, it's alright," Clara insisted as she gave him a tender kiss.

The Doctor shook his head as he said, "It wasn't a moment ago though was it? When you thought that I might have completely forgotten your role in those events you were extremely upset, Clara. All of those things that we did together really do matter, Clara. They matter to both of us so don't even try to convince me otherwise."

Clara nodded in agreement even as she said in an upbeat voice, "Yes, that did upset me but I would have eventually gotten over it even if it had been true because we're together again. In the end that's all that's important to me. I have you back in my life again, Doctor, and that's where you're going to stay from now on. When it's all said and done that's the only thing that really, truly matters to me is being with you. Understand?"

The Doctor smiled at her and kissed her in response as he said, "Yes, I think I do."

He couldn't help but think to himself that it wasn't all that mattered to him however. Every moment that he had spent with Clara was precious to him and the thought that he had lost any of that time with her for any reason, no matter how inconsequential that it might seem to be on the surface, bothered him a great deal. He wanted those memories and that time back again. All of it.

He would never settle for anything less.

"Clara, is everything alright?" Arissa whispered in Clara's ear.

"I'm not sure. I think so," Clara whispered back as she studied the Doctor's face closely for any signs that she might be wrong.

It always bothered her when he gave into her too quickly. It always meant that he was up to something.

"So are you finally ready to hear how I can help your new friend here?" Arissa asked Clara out loud as she pointed to Eleanor.

"Help her with what?" The Doctor asked as he looked at Eleanor with concern.

Clara couldn't help but smile as she realized that the Doctor was starting to care about Eleanor despite how much he claimed not to like her. He really was an old softy deep down despite how much of a grouch that he could be at times.

"She wants to make this human version of her immortal so that she won't have to merge back with her shell again, and she thinks that I can help her with that," Arissa explained in an almost conspiratorial tone.

The Doctor gave both her and Clara a surprised look now as he said, "Ah, I see. And can you?"

Arissa became extremely serious then as she looked more at Eleanor herself than at the others while she said to the Doctor, "There is a way, yes. It involves considerable risk though. Have you heard of the Block Transfer Computations used by the people of Logopolis?"

The Doctor smiled proudly as he said, "I probably know more about them than you do."

Arissa nodded as she said, "Good. Then I don't have to explain the process of how they used mathematical equations in order to create or remake objects and events do I? That's just as well because that whole thing gives me a headache just thinking about it even if it is my particular field of expertise."

The Doctor gave her a renewed look of appreciation then as he said in an excited voice, "Wait a moment. Arissa. Arissa. That's it! You were so brilliant that they called you Arissa the Magnus or Arissa the Great, didn't they? You were the first Block Transfer Engineer on Gallifrey, weren't you? I knew that name sounded familiar. I remember you from my history classes at the Academy."

"Doctor, I'm not sure that you should tell her any more. I'm not even sure that you should have told her that much," Clara said in a warning tone as she quickly interrupted him.

Arissa however looked extremely impressed by what the Doctor had just told her as she said, "So I make it into the history books, huh? Won't Dad be glad to hear that? He always said that he was afraid that I wasn't going to amount to anything. Clara's right though. Don't tell me anymore. I don't want to know anything about my own future.

"Yeah, I didn't either. I wound up finding out anyway though unfortunately," Clara said in a sympathetic tone.

The Doctor frowned as he said, "The point is that I know that you were the first one to figure out how to use block transfer matrixes to completely reshape a TARDIS' outer plasmic shell and its interior configurations. We take that technology for granted now, but back then it was revolutionary. You truly are a genius and I don't use that word lightly."

Arissa looked at him oddly as he kept using the word TARDIS to describe the TT Capsule but decided that it was probably something about the future that she was better off not knowing too much about. She was going to wipe her memories of everything that she learned from him anyway as soon as she went back to her own time again, but it was probably better that she not find out too much in the first place just to be safe.

"Thank you, Doctor. I'm starting to see why Clara likes you so much now. You certainly know how to flatter a girl don't you? It's good to know that my work actually leads to something useful one day. You know I really wasn't sure if it ever would or not, but I went ahead with it anyway because I've believed in the power of what Block Transfer Mathematics could do ever since I learned about it during a trip to Logopolis to fix a local temporal anomaly there. The good news for you, Clara, is that I believe I can use my knowledge to remake a human body's biodata and reshape it into a walking, talking sentient capsule or TARDIS I suppose if I'm using that word correctly whose natural state would be its original human form. It would still be dimensionally transcendental on the inside of course and fully capable of doing everything that a regular capsule can do. In theory it should work perfectly. In theory," Arissa said with a hint of warning in her voice.

"I know I'm risking altering the future here but I can confirm that it's much more than just a theory. I actually have seen a human being become accidentally turned into a TARDIS before. It happened to one of my friends during her travels with me. Her name was Compassion," The Doctor said.

Arissa looked intrigued by this even as the Doctor started to have a thoughtful look on his face whose meaning that Clara couldn't quite decipher. Was he trying to think of a way to help Eleanor . . . or was it something else entirely?

"So it _is_ possible. Good to know but that knowledge really doesn't change anything I'm afraid. That still doesn't mean that I'll be successful because this is all still brand new to me, and I don't have any information on exactly how your friend transformed. I doubt you do either if it was an accident. All that I know for sure is that if I'm even just a little bit off in my calculations I could wind up killing your capsule or turning her into some kind of grotesque abomination, Clara. Is it really worth that risk?" Arissa asked as she stared at Eleanor intently.

Clara hesitated now even as Eleanor said, "I'll need some time to think about this, Clara."

"I'd take all of the time that you need. You're the one who has to live with whatever happens after all," Arissa said in a compassionate voice.

Clara shook her head though as she said, "No, Eleanor. You can't. Not for me. It's not worth the risk. I'd rather have you be a regular TARDIS again any day. Don't even think about doing this."

Eleanor smiled as she said, "It wouldn't just be for you, sweetie. It may surprise you but I've come to actually like being human. Maybe I don't want to give that up so quickly. I'll think about it and get back to you, Arissa."

"Good," Arissa said with approval.

"You know she's not so bad now that she seems to have finally gotten over Clara. She's almost halfway decent when she's not acting like a lovesick stalker," Ashildr said in a low voice to Jane.

"Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment, Ashy. You're not so bad yourself when you're not acting like a pompous git," Arissa said with a wicked smile.

"Bloody super sensitive Time Lord hearing," Ashildr grumbled as she gave Arissa a dirty look.

Luckily before the two of them could start fighting, which seemed to always end up happening more often than not whenever Arissa visited Clara, the Doctor's TARDIS finally started to materialize at long last. Ashildr completely forgot about her feud with Arissa at that moment as she started to race towards the Console Room in excitement.

After all she was about to see Will again.

Within minutes Ashildr was the first one out of the TARDIS doors as she emerged from the interior of the ancient ship to find herself in the middle of what she instantly recognized to be the Globe Theatre. In what might almost be a serendipitous moment (although she suspected that it had happened more by the TARDIS' design than it had by some lucky happenstance) she also found herself literally face to face with her son who was staring at her in absolute astonishment as if he couldn't believe that she was actually there.

In a way it was the perfect commentary on their relationship sadly enough.

"Mother?" Will asked in a surprised voice.

He was half convinced that he might be hallucinating but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately was the better term since he hardly wanted to be mad) he couldn't confirm that since he was all alone in the theatre at that moment. He had stayed behind long after everyone else had left for the night once they had finished their rehearsals for tomorrow's play. He hadn't been sure why he had done this exactly, but some inner voice had just told him that he had to be there and luckily he had listened to it.

Ashildr smiled and hugged him tightly as she said in a voice filled with love, "Yes, it's really me. Hello, Will."

Will's shocked look became even more pronounced now as his jaw dropped open and he said in a weak voice, "Are you actually displaying affection towards me?"

Ashildr's heart filled with sorrow at his comment as she said in an emotional voice, "The very fact that you even have to ask that question of me makes what I came here to do even more imperative, Will."

"And what was that exactly?" Will asked in an uncertain tone.

Ashildr clasped his hands in hers now and said in what she hoped he would know was an earnest voice, "I wanted to apologize to you for never showing you one moment of love while you were growing up. I made sure that you had a good home and the best education that I could give you, but I know that could never truly make up for my almost total lack of involvement in your life. Yes, I would sometimes visit you in the guise of your distant cousin in order to avoid any troublesome questions about our relationship and tell you many stories of my travels and the places that I had been to, but I know that wasn't what you really wanted to hear from me. You wanted me to tell you that I loved you didn't you? I'm so sorry that I never could. That's going to change from now on though. I promise. I love you, Will."

Will looked absolutely thunderstruck in that moment as he said in a voice filled with amazement, "You've changed. It's almost as if you're a completely different person now. Before whenever you would visit me you would always act so cold and distant towards me that I sometimes wondered if you resented my very existence, but now you have a heart so filled with love that it seems as though it will suddenly burst at any moment if you don't continuously tell me of it."

Ashildr laughed as she said, "You can tell that you're a writer alright. That description is a little overly melodramatic, but I suppose it's a basically accurate one."

"This is the first time that I've seen you since I was a child and yet somehow you still look exactly the same as you did back then. How is that possible?" Will asked as he continued to look at Ashildr as if he wasn't sure if she was really there or not.

Ashildr began to become a bit nervous now as she remembered that she had stopped visiting Will long ago for this very reason. She had known that he would inevitably start asking questions about her appearance one day if she continued to visit him past a certain age.

"Oh, well obviously I use tons of makeup so that you don't see what a wrinkled old crone that I've become now. That's hardly a mystery, Will," Ashildr said with a smirk as she attempted to deflect the question with humor.

It seemed to have at least partially worked because Will started to laugh as he said, "I would much rather believe that explanation than the one that I used to hear about you when I was a boy. I actually heard my adopted father say that you were a witch once. I never believed that of course since I consider myself a rational man and despite your frequent coldness towards me growing up I've never once considered you to be evil or a bad person."

Tears welled up in Ashildr's eyes at his words because she could tell that he meant them as she said, "Thank you, Will. I'm honestly not sure why you didn't think the worst of me though after the way that I treated you."

Will looked deep into her eyes then as he said, "There were many times that I would doubt whether you truly cared for me or not growing up but there were moments when I would see the faintest hint of a smile on your face when you looked at me. I would just catch a fleeting glimpse of it but it was there all the same. It was an undeniable smile of pride. I was always delighted to see that ghost of a smile on your face as a child because that was when I knew for sure no matter how you acted that somewhere deep down you truly did love me."

"Of course I did. I always loved you and I was always, always proud of you," Ashildr said as she eagerly hugged him once more.

It was Will's turn to tear up now as he said, "I've waited my entire life to hear you say that."

"And now you'll get to hear it as often as you like for the rest of your life . . . if you'll let me visit you that is. I'll understand if you never want to see me again though," Ashildr said in an anxious voice.

To her immense relief, Will smiled and kissed her cheek as he said, "I will always be glad to see you, Mother. I've come to realize the true importance of family in recent years and how we should do our best to enjoy their company while they're still with us."

Ashildr looked at him sadly because she knew exactly what he was referring to by that statement. She had continued to watch over him even after she had stopped visiting him after all so she knew everything that had happened to him . . . and to the ones that he loved.

"Yes, I heard about your son Hamnet's death. I'm so sorry about that, Will. I wish that I had told you that at the time," Ashildr said in a voice filled with regret.

Will nodded at her and gave her a brief smile of gratitude before he suddenly changed the obviously painful subject as he pointed to the TARDIS and said, "And is this strange blue box that you just appeared out of the cause of your sudden change in behavior?"

That was when Ashildr realized that the TARDIS had sent her too far back in Will's timeline. He hadn't even met the Doctor yet much less seen the TARDIS itself before.

No wonder he had looked so shocked earlier.

"It's times like this that I really appreciate how remarkably efficient Eleanor always was. She was nothing like this miserable excuse for a ship. It seems that Clara was right about you, Idris. You really are a miserable old cow," Ashildr said to the TARDIS as she gave it a dirty look.

"Mother, are you feeling quite well?" Will asked in concern as he watched his mother carry on a conversation with the mysterious blue box as though it were alive and perfectly capable of understanding her.

He had seen such behavior before from his friend Peter just before he was sent to Bedlam, and he hoped that it didn't mean that his mother was about to suffer a similar fate. It would certainly explain her sudden complete change in personality however.

That was when the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and said to Ashildr in an irritated voice, "I was about to tell you that the TARDIS went back a little too early and that we're several months before Will's meeting with Sandshoes and Martha, but you were in such a hurry to race outside that I didn't get the chance. If you're this reckless when you're traveling with Clara, it's a wonder you're still alive. Sometimes it actually does pay to stop and listen to me for a minute before you go mindlessly charging off somewhere. You might just learn something important that way."

"Yes, well I suppose I was just used to traveling on a ship that actually works and takes me to the exact time and place that I want it to go. I took it for granted that all TARDISes functioned that way. I can see that that seems to be a bit of a problem with your ship though. I'm just glad that we actually managed to arrive somewhere within Will's lifetime and that I didn't end up coming here when the entire area was underwater instead," Ashildr said with a frown.

Will couldn't help but smile at their exchange. It was almost as if this strange old man thought that he was his mother's father based on the way that he spoke to her. His mother obviously didn't appreciate being placed in such a role judging by her comments to him.

"This is one of those times when it's painfully obvious to me that you've spent several centuries living with Clara," The Doctor said as he rolled his eyes at her.

"And what's that supposed to mean exactly, Old Man?" Clara asked in an angry voice as she stepped out of the TARDIS behind him.

Thankfully for the sake of his continuing good health the Doctor never had a chance to attempt to answer that question. Before he could even think about speaking Will had already raced up to Clara with a look on his face like that of a thirsty man who has just found an oasis in the middle of the desert.

"And who might you be, my dark haired beauty?" Will said with an enormous smile as he automatically began flirting with Clara.

"Will, don't. Not with her," Ashildr commanded in a stern tone.

Will wasn't even listening to her however as he continued to shamelessly flirt while he said, "I know an excellent tavern nearby that we could visit together after I've finished speaking with my mother if you're feeling thirsty. There's also a very nice inn that just happens to be located right next to it if you'd care to check into it for the night. I know that you must be exceptionally weary after all of your travels especially after having to spend them all cramped up in such a tiny little box. I have no idea how the three of you ever fit in there together."

"Somehow I don't get the impression that Clara getting a good night's sleep is very high on your list of priorities," The Doctor said in an angry voice.

Will briefly flashed the Doctor a look of annoyance as he said to Clara, "You can always get a separate room for your dear old grandfather here of course so that he won't be bothered by what I'm sure will be many hours of delightful conversation between us. I'm sure someone as advanced in years as he obviously is needs all of the sleep that they can get after all."

"'Conversation', eh? Is that what they call it in this day and age?" The Doctor said with a snort as he glared at Will for calling him Clara's grandfather.

Surely if he was going to be mistaken for someone, he should have been thought of as her incredibly handsome slightly older brother instead.

Clara had been watching the Doctor's growing jealousy in silent amusement up until this point but she finally decided to do something about that at last now as she said to Will, "Sorry but I'm afraid that I'll have to decline that selfless offer of yours to spend the night 'talking' with me. You see my wife Ashildr over there, otherwise known as your mum, probably wouldn't appreciate that too much. I mean technically you are my step-son aren't you?"

Will's eyes almost burst from their sockets now as he said, "Mother, is this true? Are the two of you . . . ?"

That was nothing compared to the utterly miserable look on the Doctor's face at that moment. Apparently he had actually believed her even though he of all people really should have known better. Clara knew that she should feel terrible for putting him through the wringer like that, but that look alone had instantly made this entire joke worthwhile for her.

Ashildr immediately began violently shaking her head no with a look on her face that was such an odd mixture of horror, embarrassment, and disgust that it quickly made Clara burst out laughing at the sight of it.

Clara reluctantly let Ashildr off the hook then as she said to Will with a mischievous smile, "Just winding you up, Shakespeare. Your mother and I are actually more like sisters to be honest. That tiny little white lie of mine certainly got your attention though didn't it? Maybe next time you'll think twice before you start hitting on some random person that you've just met. You might just turn out to be related to them."

"Or she might just be proving why she's a doctor of lies instead," The Doctor said with a furious look on his face as he glared at Clara.

Will immediately started to smile once more now as he said to Clara in a jubilant voice, "Oh, I can already tell that I'm going to like you. That was very clever, my dear. I for one am very glad that we're not related however or I would surely be condemned for what would otherwise be some very unnatural thoughts at this moment."

"That's enough, Will. Leave Clara alone. I mean it. I don't ever want to hear you talk like that to her again," Ashildr said in a no nonsense tone that Clara instinctively knew just had to be her 'mum voice'.

She had heard that tone much too often from her own mother for her to ever mistake it for anything else.

Will certainly hadn't mistaken it either as he immediately looked visibly chastised and said in a defensive tone, "I was only joking with her, Mother. I never meant to offend anyone."

"That may be but you certainly offended me so don't do it again. Am I understood?" Ashildr said in a stern voice.

"Yes, Mother," Will said with a dejected look on his face.

Then to his immense surprise Ashildr actually started to laugh as she said in a voice filled with joy, "Isn't it wonderful? I just disciplined you for the first time. I'm actually starting to feel like a proper mother now."

"And you didn't even have to change his diapers, burp him, or do any potty training, Ashy. You skipped right over the worst parts and fast forwarded straight to adulthood instead," Clara joked.

"Yes, lucky me," Ashildr said with a forlorn look on her face that Clara had in no way meant to put there.

"And people say that I'm rude. I'll remember this the next time you make fun of me for saying something that I shouldn't," The Doctor said with a frown.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Clara said to Ashildr in an apologetic tone as she pointedly ignored the Doctor who she could tell was still mad at her for her little joke earlier.

"I know you didn't. You just don't think before you speak sometimes. It's one of your many loveable little quirks isn't it?" Ashildr said with a wicked smile.

Clara gave her a cold look at first and then eventually smiled back at her as she said, "I'm going to let that slide just this once because I made you upset. Don't count on it happening a second time though, Viking Girl."

"Yes, I can definitely see a strong sibling relationship between the two of you, Mother," Will said as he watched with undisguised amusement while his mother stuck her tongue out at Clara.

"What he means is that you're both acting like children," The Doctor interjected.

"Okay, Doctor, I get it. You don't have to keep making your snarky little remarks. You're angry about my little lie earlier. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to scare you," Clara said with a sigh.

"You did far more than just scare me, Clara. I think I may have actually lost a couple of regenerations," The Doctor complained.

"Well, considering that I helped get you those regenerations in the first place I'd say I'm owed at least a few of them wouldn't you?" Clara said with a smirk.

The Doctor suddenly looked visibly disturbed once more which caused Clara to say, "Don't tell me. You don't remember that either, do you? Of course this time that's not as bad as it sounds. You weren't actually there when I talked to the Time Lords, Doctor. I told you about it later."

This didn't seem to help the Doctor's mood any though as he said in a weary voice, "You've done so much for me and I probably don't even remember half of it now."

"It's not important, Doctor," Clara said in a reassuring voice.

"Of course it's important. It's all important. You're the woman that I love, Clara. Everything about you is important. Everything," The Doctor said in a frustrated voice as his eyes began to fill with tears.

"Doctor, it's alright. It really doesn't bother me," Clara said in a gentle voice as she did her best to calm him down.

"It bothers me though," The Doctor said in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

That was when Jane finally left the TARDIS at last because she simply couldn't contain herself any longer. She had decided that Ashildr had had more than enough time to say what she wanted to him. She just had to meet THE William Shakespeare.

"And yet another magnificent beauty emerges from this fantastic wooden box I see. How on Earth did so many of you manage to fit together inside of it? If I didn't know any better, I would swear that it was a portal to the land of the fairies instead of just a cramped wooden box. I certainly could be forgiven for mistaking you for the beautiful Titania, Queen of the Fairies, I think," Will said with a face wide grin as he rushed over to kiss Jane's hand.

Jane instantly blushed in response and started to giggle like a schoolgirl as she said, "I thank you for your kind words, sir. A Midsummer Night's Dream has always been one of my favorite plays since I was a little girl."

Will looked at her quizzically now as he said, "Since you were a little girl? That can hardly be possible. You must be thinking of some other play because this particular play would not have even existed that far back in time."

Jane mentally kicked herself for her mistake as she said, "Yes, I'm afraid that I really must be. I do enjoy the play though nonetheless. You have no idea just how important that you've been to my life and how great of an influence that you've been on me. In fact you've helped inspire many of my own stories. I just wanted you to know that."

"Your stories? So you're a writer as well then?" Will asked intrigued.

"Yes, I've written several novels but . . . none of them are under my own name," Jane admitted.

"Ah, I see. This absurd idea held by so many people that women shouldn't be writers and that it's somehow unladylike to do so is definitely one that I do not support. If I had my way, female writers would never have to be published under a male name again, and you would get all of the credit that you deserve," Will said in what Jane was sure was an earnest tone.

"Don't worry. One day she will," Clara added with such an air of certainty that Will couldn't help but wonder if she knew something that he didn't.

In fact he was beginning to suspect that nothing was as it seemed to be regarding his mother's strange new traveling companions. She may not be a witch but she was definitely something far from ordinary. He had always known that about her.

His thoughts were completely justified a moment later when Eleanor and Arissa finally left the TARDIS as well. He knew that there was no natural way that six people could have all fit into such a small space as the cramped wooden box that he currently saw before him.

It simply wasn't possible by any normal means that he knew of.

"Mother, tell me the truth about that wooden box that you arrived in out of thin air and how you all fit inside of it. Is it some sort of elaborate magic trick? If it is, I have yet to understand how it all works," Will asked in a confused voice.

Ashildr now gave the Doctor a questioning look since he was the authority on what Will should and shouldn't know about the future. To her surprise, he actually nodded to her in encouragement and was basically telling her to tell Will the truth.

And why shouldn't he? It add made perfect sense to him now in hindsight as to how Will seemed to know so much about him and the TARDIS when Sandshoes had met him months from now. He knew because he had already found out the truth from his current self but had had to pretend that he had figured it all out for himself instead in order to keep Sandshoes from knowing too much about his own future.

He should have known that not even Shakespeare would be that brilliant.

As soon as Ashildr finished telling him the basic facts behind the TARDIS and the Doctor, Will started to practically beam with excitement as he said, "This is extraordinary and yet it's the only explanation that helps make sense out of everything that I've seen here today so it must be true. So the old man is actually a shape-shifter capable of wearing a multitude of faces, and he comes from another world that possesses a technology far in advance of our own. He uses this box, which is somehow bigger on the inside, to travel through time and space, and he's brought you, Clara, and the others here from the future. Is that correct?"

"Actually I'm from the distant past from your perspective since my people were traveling through time long before yours ever left their caves and are far superior to yours in every way. No offense meant of course. I'm simply stating the facts," Arissa said with a grin.

"None taken, my lady, because I'm certain that it's all too true," Will said with a reassuring smile.

Then a thoughtful look came over his face as he asked his mother, "And does this advanced technology of the Doctor's somehow explain why you don't appear to age then? It's somehow allowed you to retain your youth indefinitely hasn't it?"

"Very good. This one's definitely not as bad as all of the other pudding brains, Ashildr. He's your son alright," The Doctor said proudly.

"He called you Ashildr and so did Clara earlier. I always knew you only as Me which I assumed must be your initials since it could hardly be a proper name. Is Ashildr your true name then?" Will asked his mother curiously.

Ashildr nodded as she said, "My name was Ashildr Einarrsdottir originally, but I have had many other names in the past."

"The name Ashildr is Viking in origin isn't it? Is that what your ancestors were originally?" Will asked.

Ashildr took a deep breath as she considered her answer for a brief moment and then decided that she wanted to always be as honest as possible with him from now on as she answered, "I was born a Viking actually several hundred years before your time because the technology that the Doctor used on me did more than just make me eternally young. It also made me immortal. Me was the name I ultimately ended up choosing for a long time because after a few hundred years I completely forgot my own name and quickly tired of using false ones. I am Ashildr once again though because for the first time in a very long time I finally remember who I am."

She wrapped her arm around him then as she said, "And I mean that in more ways than one, Will. This is the person that you should have known grown up. You deserved that."

"You're hundreds of years old?" Will asked in astonishment.

"More like billions actually or possibly even trillions. Even I'm not sure to be honest. I highly doubt that she is either," The Doctor said in a nonchalant tone.

Ashildr was now beyond angry because the Doctor was throwing too much at Will all at once. She had wanted to slowly ease him into the full details of her history so that it didn't completely overwhelm even his highly imaginative mind. As usual the Doctor didn't even consider how knowing the whole story about her all at once might completely overwhelm Will though.

Will looked absolutely shocked now as he said, "Evidently there is still so much about you that I don't know even now, Mother."

"You will eventually, Will. I promise. Are you alright?" Ashildr asked with concern as she continued to give the Doctor angry looks.

"I'd say based on those death stares that Ashildr keeps giving me that I said something that I shouldn't have, but I can't imagine what that might have been," The Doctor asked Clara.

"Oh, yeah. You definitely did alright. I'll explain it to you later, Old Man," Clara answered.

"I probably still won't understand it even then but you're welcome to try anyway," The Doctor admitted.

"Is he always like this?" Arissa asked Eleanor as she gave the Doctor a look of disbelief.

"You have no idea," Eleanor said with a chuckle.

Then she smiled and said, "I call myself Eleanor by the way."

Arissa nodded as she said, "It's nice to meet you, Eleanor. I'm sorry if I was a bit standoffish to you earlier by not speaking to you directly, but I'm not used to thinking of a capsule as a person. Then again my father didn't even think of our fellow Time Lords as people so I suppose it's really no wonder. I'm not even sure he thought of me as a person come to think of it."

"I'm sorry. I've always heard so many unflattering stories about Rassilon but I suppose I didn't really even begin to understand just how bad he truly was until now," Eleanor said meaning it.

Arissa laughed as she said, "Unflattering is a very nice way of putting it. Monstrous and/or horrible is probably much more accurate though. I'm here to assure you that everything that you've heard is true and then some."

"You're not there now though so just try to forget about it for a while," Eleanor said in a sympathetic voice.

Arissa looked at her with such a look of overwhelming despair in her eyes at that moment that Eleanor visibly cringed as the Time Lady said, "I wish I could."

Then she turned to Ashildr and said, "I'm sure you'd disagree but I actually think if I could lose all of my memories that I'd be so much better off. I might actually be happy for once."

Ashildr shook her head as she said, "Our memories are what make us who we are, Arissa. For better or worse we need them or we'll never truly be whole. Look at what happened to me. I couldn't even tell my own son that I loved him until I regained my full identity again. No matter how much you think you would like to forget your past right now you have to trust me when I say that you definitely don't. It's a fate worse than death."

Arissa began to smile from ear to ear then which caused Ashildr to say, "What?"

"That's the nicest that you've ever been to me," Arissa said as she began to actually properly smile at her for once.

"Yeah, well you're not so bad when you actually act like a normal person," Ashildr admitted with a brief smile of her own.

She couldn't resist adding, "Too bad it doesn't happen very often."

"Why am I not particularly surprised that that touching little moment between you two didn't last longer than two seconds?" Clara said with a groan.

"I'd still consider it one of the Wonders of the Universe that it even happened at all, Clara, so I wouldn't knock it. I would have thought that the Daleks would have suddenly become best friends with the Time Lords long before those two would have ever said anything even remotely civil to one another," Eleanor said with a smirk.

Clara couldn't help laughing despite the angry looks on her friends' face in response to Eleanor's teasing because she knew that it was all too true. That was when she turned to the Doctor in order to see his reaction . . . and noticed that he was gone.

"Are you looking for the old man? I saw him go back inside of his blue box a moment ago with a determined look on his face," Will said as he noticed that Clara was looking for him.

"What? Why would he . . . ?" Clara started to ask.

Then her heart filled with terror as the sudden realization of what the Doctor must have been thinking about hit her all at once like a thunderbolt. He had just been listening to a discussion about how important memories were.

"Don't you dare!" Clara screamed as she rushed back towards the TARDIS before it could disappear off to who knew where.

To her surprise however it was actually still there when she arrived. If he wasn't leaving, then what was he up to? She tried to open the doors to find out but quickly found that they were locked from the inside.

Clara fought back a rising surge of panic in that moment because she had to get inside there. She needed to know what that daft old git of hers was doing so that she could save him from himself if she had to.

"Clara, there's something that you need to know," Eleanor said with a clear look of concern in her eyes.

Clara became even more panicked now as she said in a worried voice, "The Old Cow just told you what he's up to didn't she?"

Eleanor frowned as she said, "Actually she didn't. He's completely blocked her telepathic network from having any access to the outside world so that she can't tell me anything."

"He knows exactly what he's doing then. The daft old man actually has a plan for once. Now I really have to get in there so that I can kick his . . ." Clara said in a voice filled with venom.

Eleanor interrupted her as she said, "Clara, that's what I was trying to tell you. Just before the Doctor cut Idris off she told me that he had just activated an isomorphic lock on the TARDIS doors."

"What? He once told me that there was no such thing as isomorphic anything?" Clara said in disbelief.

"Do I really have to explain Rule Number One to you?" Eleanor said with a frown.

"So in other words he's the only one in the universe who can open those doors now because they'll only respond to his genetic code, right? I am so going to kill him the next time that I see him," Clara said in a voice that was quivering with raw, unrestrained fury.

Then her voice filled with sorrow in the very next moment as she said, "That is if he doesn't wind up killing himself first instead."

"Maybe you could use the device on your wrist to find an earlier version of the Doctor and convince him to open the doors," Jane suggested.

Clara hesitated for a moment as she considered the possibility and then said, "No, they'd never do it because they'd all think that our Doctor must have a good reason for not wanting to let anyone else in there. The Doctor trusts himself too much to do something like that even if he usually can't stand himself. Maybe I could try tricking him into opening it but I doubt he'd ever believe that anyone but him could ever be smart enough to put a lock like that on the TARDIS."

Tears began to rapidly fall down her cheeks then as she said in a voice filled with emotion, "I don't know what to do. There's no way that I can get inside there now in time to keep him from doing something stupid."

"How do you know that he's doing something stupid though?" Ashildr said in an encouraging voice.

Clara gave her an icy stare that immediately made her answer, "Well, it's possible that he actually has a decent highly intelligent plan in mind that's not completely off the wall, right?"

Clara continued to give her that same withering look until she finally admitted, "Okay, you're right."

"What do I do, Ashy? Who can I turn to?" Clara asked in a voice filled with uncertainty.

That was when Ashildr suddenly began humming that same odd tune from before once more and something clicked in Clara's mind.

She finally knew what that tune was now.

"867-5309," Clara said as her heart suddenly began to fill with hope once more.

"What?" Ashildr said as she looked at her as if she had just lost her mind.

"It's the name of an old pop song from the 1980s. That's what you've been humming all of this time. It can't be a coincidence though. Not now because the other name of that song is . . . !" Clara said in an excited voice.

Clara was interrupted before she could finish though as the very song that she had been talking about started playing out of nowhere while a large pink box that looked eerily similar to the Doctor's TARDIS began to materialize out of nowhere.

"What the?!" Clara said as she looked on in amazement.

"What is that? Is that something to do with you?" Will asked Ashildr.

"I don't think so," Ashildr said as she stared at the rapidly materializing object in utter disbelief.

"You know what it is don't you, Eleanor?" Jane asked as she realized that the ex-TARDIS didn't seem to be surprised at all by what was happening.

Arissa looked at Eleanor closely and then said, "You do know don't you? I think I do too. I've heard of them before but I never thought I'd actually see one."

"See what? What is it, Princess?" Clara demanded.

"It's a CORDIS," Eleanor said without hesitation.

"A what? Are you speaking another language now?" Clara asked in absolute confusion.

Eleanor smiled at her patiently as she explained, "It's called a CORDIS. That stands for Conveyance of Repeating Dialogue In Space-Time. Basically they're a third rate copy of me and my sisters. A group of beings called the Word Lords created them to travel through time and space just as we do. Unlike us though they disguise themselves as common words or phrases spoken throughout the universe and will suddenly appear when that word or phrase is said out loud. This one was obviously disguised as the name of the song that Ashildr was humming. The song itself has apparently become the CORDIS' materialization sound. That's very clever actually with the way that songs become earworms like they do. Someone was bound to sing it somewhere eventually."

"Especially if someone used to hum that particular song around an immortal girl day in and day out back when she was a child," Clara mused to herself as she began to think that none of this could be a coincidence.

That belief was all but affirmed a moment later when the CORDIS finally finished materializing at last and its doors opened. A young blonde woman stepped out with a relieved look on her face and immediately dropped to her feet and kissed the floor in gratitude.

"Now I know that it's not a coincidence. I knew it was her! It had to be," Clara said in triumph.

"Finally! I'm so glad to be someplace else again. Anyplace else. I thought I'd never get out of that stupid ship. I've been trapped in there for who knows how long just waiting on someone somewhere to say the name of that song. I guess I really should have picked out some other phrase to disguise the ship as, but I didn't really have a whole lot of time. Besides it was the first thing that came to my mind, and I was only seconds away from being blown up. It wasn't until I dematerialized though that I realized that the controls had been damaged, and the only thing that could bring me back to the real world again was a song that wouldn't even be written yet for several hundred years. Embarrassing, huh? Anyway I'd really like to thank you whoever you . . ." The blonde woman said and then she stopped speaking as she looked closely at Ashildr.

"Ashildr?" The blonde asked in an uncertain voice.

"M - Mother?" Ashildr said as she stared at the woman in stunned disbelief.

Clara looked towards the TARDIS with a sly grin as she said, "I totally called it. I don't know how exactly but you planned all of this didn't you? I know you did. This has your non-existent fingerprints all over. You looked into the future and saw what the Doctor was going to do, and then you found a way around it."

"Ashildr. I can't believe that it's really you," The blonde said with a look of pure joy as she raced forward and began to hug her daughter tightly.

"How is this possible? I thought you were . . . I don't understand," Ashildr said in a numb voice.

"It's a long story but I'll do my best to explain it, sweetie," The blonde said as she began to cry with joy at being reunited with the daughter that she was sure that she would never see again.

After all no one in Ashildr's time would have possibly known the name of that song.

"We don't have time for that right now, Jenny. You have to open those doors before it's too late to save your father, and right now you're the only one here who can," Clara said in an anxious voice as she pointed to the TARDIS.

"Who are you and how do you know who I am?" Jenny said suspiciously.

Then she stopped in her tracks as she finally looked in the direction that Clara was pointing and saw a blue box standing nearby that she instinctively recognized even though she'd never actually gotten to see it before. After all her father had promised her that she would travel with him in that very same ship one day, and she had never let go of that hope no matter how many long grueling years had passed for her since then.

"Dad's here? I finally found him?" Jenny asked in excitement as her heart filled with joy.

"Dad?" Ashildr asked as the full realization of that statement hit her in the gut like a pile-driver.

So that meant that she was the Doctor's granddaughter? It couldn't be!

That would explain so very much about their relationship though, wouldn't it?

"Yeah, and if you ever want to see him alive again you'd better hurry up and get in there before he does who knows what to himself. Go, Blondie! Go!" Clara ordered.

"Okay, okay. Talk about bossy," Jenny said with a deep frown as she began to rush towards the TARDIS.

"You don't know the half of it yet," Ashildr said with a huge smile on her face.

"I'm sure you'll tell her all about it later though," Eleanor said with a chuckle.

"I don't understand. I thought you said only the Doctor could open those doors now," Jane asked Eleanor.

"She can too though because in a way she is the Doctor. She's not just his daughter. She's also his clone," Clara explained with a smug grin.

"So that means in some way that I don't quite understand that she's somehow a copy of him and therefore can open the doors," Jane reasoned.

"You're good," Clara said as she looked at Jane with renewed appreciation.

"You're definitely more in your element here than I then since I have no idea how that young girl could possibly share anything in common with the doddering old man that I met before," Will said to Jane in a voice that clearly said that he didn't believe it for an instant.

"I'll explain later, Ashy, Jr. Open those doors now, Blondie!" Clara commanded.

"Ashy, Jr.?" Will asked in puzzlement.

"I can't open them! I don't have the key," Jenny said in an irritated voice as she tried to push on the doors and they refused to budge.

Clara smiled as she said, "You don't need one. You are the key. Just snap your fingers, Jen."

"What?" Jenny said as she looked at Clara as if she had just lost her mind.

"Just trust me," Clara encouraged her.

Jenny nodded and then she quickly snapped her fingers as loudly as she could. She gasped in astonishment a moment later as the two doors instantly fell open.

"I was right. It works for you too because genetically you're him," Clara said with a smug smile of victory.

Then all traces of a smile vanished from her face as she looked into the Console Room and saw a strange woman with red hair who was dressed all in black standing over a now prostrate Doctor who was lying unconscious on the floor.

At least she hoped he was only unconscious anyway.

"I wasn't fast enough. We're already too late," Jenny said in a heartbroken voice as she automatically assumed the worst.

"What have you done to him?" Clara demanded from the stranger.

The mysterious woman held up her hands in surrender and said in a placating tone, "It's not what it looks like. I came here because he called me. He wanted my help in retrieving his lost memories. It's what I do. I'm a specialist in restoring even the most deeply buried memories. I've had a great deal of success with it in the past and the Doctor thought that might mean that I'd have a better chance of helping him than anyone else could especially since we once shared such a deep connection with one another."

"What kind of connection? What are you talking about?" Clara asked with a slight hint of jealousy in her voice.

"The same kind of connection that Idris has with him if I'm not mistaken. You're a TARDIS too aren't you? And yet somehow you're different from my sisters and me," Eleanor said as she stared at the woman with a furrowed brow.

"Let me guess. Your name is Compassion, right?" Arissa asked as she remembered what the Doctor had told her earlier.

The woman looked at her in surprise at first and then swiftly nodded as she explained, "Yes. For a brief time I took the place of the Doctor's TARDIS when he thought that he had lost her for good. We established the same sort of mental connection between us as he has with her although obviously it was nowhere near as strong. The Doctor had hoped that thanks to that bond between us and my unique abilities that I could retrieve his lost memories of a woman named Clara Oswald from deep within his subconscious."

"Apparently it didn't quite work out that way though did it?" Clara asked in a worried voice as she gently touched the Doctor's face with concern.

Compassion noticeably avoided looking directly into Clara's eyes as she said in a voice filled with guilt, "I . . . I'm not sure what happened. It seemed as if I was actually helping him at first because I could see a flood of memories, all of them featuring you, returning to him all at once. And then he began to scream and flail about as the connection between us was suddenly severed. A moment later he completely lost consciousness and fell to the floor before I could catch him. I was about to attempt to go back into his mind once again to see what had happened when you opened the front doors."

"He's still alive at least but I can't seem to wake him," Clara said with growing concern as she checked his pulse and felt a reassuring double heartbeat there.

"Should I attempt to go back into his mind once more?" Compassion asked cautiously as she looked to Clara for consent.

Clara hesitated because she really didn't know this woman and wasn't sure whether to trust her or not. What if she had actually been trying to kill the Doctor and wanted to finish the job she had started instead of helping him? Then again the Doctor had just talked about someone named Compassion so it was possible that that was what that weird look on his face earlier meant. Maybe that was when he had gotten the idea to call her for help the first chance he got.

"Clara, we have to give her the benefit of the doubt and at least let her try. Something's wrong with him. Even Idris can't reach him now. His mind has become completely closed off. It's as if he's retreated into himself for some reason," Eleanor warned.

"He must have undergone some kind of tremendous psychic attack while he had let his mental defenses down to allow Compassion access to his memories. That's the only thing that would explain a sudden mental retreat like that," Arissa said as she stared at Compassion with growing suspicion.

"Don't look at me like that. It wasn't me. The Doctor is my friend," Compassion protested in what Clara thought was an earnest voice.

Could she really be sure of that though?

And then a horrible thought filled her mind as she said, "No. It couldn't be him could it?"

"Who? What are you talking about, Clara?" Arissa asked.

"Clara, Fenric is dead. I felt him die," Ashildr said as once again she displayed her almost uncanny ability to read Clara's mind.

"Are you sure though? I mean the Doctor thought he was dead before and obviously he survived. What if what's left of him just tried to kill the Doctor when his defenses were down?" Clara reasoned.

 _I see that you're as brilliant as always, Clara Oswald. You were so very close to the truth. You have the right idea but the wrong entity I'm afraid._ An all too familiar voice suddenly said in Clara's mind that sent shivers down her spine.

"Akhaten," Clara said out loud as her stomach began to feel as if it had been twisted inside out.

Akhaten's heartless laughter filled Clara's mind as soon as she identified him and caused a cold rage to begin to overtake her in response.

 _Yes, Clara, despite Fenric's attack on me somehow I survived. I was left so weakened by his assault however that I was completely unable to do anything to help myself regain even my former greatly diminished level of power. I thought that I would always remain as nothing more than a shadow of my former self doomed to float around your two TARDISes for all eternity until the Doctor so graciously offered up his memories of you to me on a silver platter! Now that I've had a taste of them I want more. It doesn't matter how far he goes within himself to escape me I will have more. I will feast upon the untapped potential of several lifetimes within him and use them to regain my former power and strength. Once I do I will finally crush you once and for all in the very next moment. Then my revenge upon you will finally be complete at last as I rob you of both your lover and your life in one fell swoop._ Akhaten threatened with malicious glee.

"No, that's never going to happen, Parasite Boy. Not if I have anything to say about it," Clara said out loud as she balled her hands up into fists.

This was her fault. She should have made sure that he was really dead somehow. Now the Doctor had paid the price for her negligence.

"Clara, you can't possibly blame yourself for this. There's no possible way that you could have known," Eleanor said in a compassionate voice.

"There's no time to try to ease my guilty conscience, TARDIS Girl. I have to get inside of the Doctor's mind and find a way to stop Akhaten from getting any further inside of it than he already has. Do any of you have any ideas on how I can do that?" Clara asked in a determined voice.

"I can help with that but I have to warn you that it's going to be extremely dangerous. He could easily feed on your memories too," Arissa warned as she gave Clara a worried look.

"In fact you might say that this whole thing is a trap in order to do exactly that, Clara. We have to think about this first before we just go charging in," Eleanor advised.

"She won't though. So when do we go?" Ashildr said with a knowing smile.

"We? We aren't going to do anything. I'm going in there alone, Ashy," Clara insisted.

Ashildr shook her head as she said, "I don't think so. If you're going to do something this unbelievably stupid, then I'm going in there right alongside you and do my best to keep you safe. Whether you like it or not."

Clara shook her head as she said with a faint smile, "So instead of trying to be my mother and stop me now the new you is just going to join me, huh?"

"What else are sisters for?" Ashildr said with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"I don't think so," Jenny said as she gave Ashildr a defiant glare.

"Mother, I have to. She's my . . ." Ashildr said as she tried to explain herself.

Jenny smiled and nodded as she interrupted her and said, "Yeah, I get that. What I meant is that the two of you aren't going in there alone. I only just got you back again, Ashildr, and I'm not about to lose you now. Besides he's my father and I've finally found him after years of searching through all of time and space for him. I'm not about to just stand by and lose him now when I've finally gotten this close. I'm going in there too and don't even try to talk me out of it."

Arissa laughed at Jenny's stubborn expression as she said, "So is anyone else joining in? The more the merrier I say. It really doesn't make any difference to me. I mean I think you're all absolutely insane, but I'll gladly give Clara all of the help that she can get. It just increases her chances of surviving."

"This isn't the time for jokes, Princess. This is serious," Clara admonished her.

"Who's joking? I'm completely terrified right now. I really wish that you'd reconsider this, Clara," Arissa said in an emotional voice as she became extremely upset.

Clara was the only person in the universe who she could actually call her friend after all.

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse than this before. Besides I've already defeated Parasite Boy before, Princess. He's a pushover. Trust me," Clara reassured her in a soft voice as she wrapped her arms around Arissa and gave her a hug.

"Liar," Arissa said even as she smiled through her tears.

"It's not a lie. It's a promise. I'm coming back. Don't ever doubt that. There's no way that I'm going to give up now when I finally have everything that I've always wanted," Clara said as she looked around the room at all of her friends who were all equally as worried for her even if they wouldn't admit it at the moment.

No, they were more than just friends. They were her family and it was a family that just kept growing it seemed she thought with satisfaction as she looked at Jenny and Will.

Then Clara turned to look at the Doctor and said, "Do you hear me in there, Old Man? I'm coming to save you and I don't care if there's a hundred Akhatens in there with you. I'll slap them all into next week. In one life or another I've kept you safe for an eternity now and I'm not about to stop. Love is a promise. You taught me that."

Then she kissed him and after pulling away from him said in a cold voice, "And after I save you, I'm going to drop kick you into next week too right alongside Parasite Boy for putting me through all of this."

"Come on, Clara. Let's wait until he's conscious first before you threaten him anymore. Then you can see the look of pure terror in his eyes while you're threatening to pound him into oblivion. I know you always enjoy that part," Ashildr said with a chuckle.

"That's true," Clara said with a wicked smile.

"I think I liked you better back when you were playing substitute mother. There's a difference between backing her up and actively encouraging her, Ashildr," Eleanor said in disapproval.

"True, but we have you now so I figure I can retire," Ashildr joked even as her eyes told Eleanor that she would watch out for Clara.

"Okay. That's enough chin wagging, everyone. Let's do this. I'm ready whenever you are, Princess," Clara said as she turned to give a visibly uncertain Arissa one last reassuring smile.

"Everyone that's going in needs to hold Clara's hand. I'll do the rest," Arissa said with a deep sigh as she placed one hand on Clara's forehead and the other on the Doctor's.

As Ashildr and Jenny each grabbed one of Clara's hands, they were both taken by surprise when Will suddenly grabbed Ashildr's hand and Jane grabbed Jenny's.

"No, Will. You're not going," Ashildr ordered.

"That goes double for you, Writer Girl," Clara said as she looked at Jane with undisguised concern.

Instead of backing down though, Will smiled at his mother and said, "Once more unto the breach."

Jane was equally defiant as she said, "Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way."

"Oh, so you're going to quote yourselves to us now? Is that it? Fine. We might as well take them with us, Ashy, or your son is just going to quote the rest of Henry V to us. If I have to listen to that again, I might just let Akhaten put me out of my misery. I had enough of that in high school," Clara said with an evil smile.

"I always liked that play myself. It was The Merchant of Venice that I found to be lacking. I once attended a performance of it at Drury Lane. I found the parts to be ill-fitted and the play heavy. The afterpiece in particular had little merit in my eyes," Jane commented.

Will now glared at Jane until she smiled at him and said, "Just because I'm a great admirer of yours doesn't mean that I can look past your faults, sir. Although admittedly my displeasure with the play may have been more the fault of the actors than the words themselves. Perhaps you could change my mind sometime . . . if we live through this of course."

Will nodded and began to smile back at her as he said, "I believe I shall take you up on that offer, dear lady."

Clara shook her head at the two writers and said to Arissa, "Let's go right now before these two start debating Chaucer or something. Ready?"

"Ready. Good luck, Clara," Arissa said as she started to send the consciousness of the others into the Doctor's mind.

As soon as she could sense that they had all entered, she turned to Eleanor and Compassion and said, "We need to talk. I have a back-up plan in mind to help them in case they fail, but I'm going to need the help of both of you. In order to pull this off, we'll have to make you just like Compassion as soon as we can if it's in any way possible, Eleanor."

Eleanor nodded in understanding as she said to Compassion, "Tell us everything that you know about how you changed from a regular human into a TARDIS. Clara and the others don't have any time to waste."

 **Next: It's Clara and her crew vs. Akhaten for the mind of the Doctor. Can they manage to stop Akhaten in time or will his lost memories of Clara become the least of the Doctor's concerns? Also what is Arissa planning and can she actually succeed in changing Eleanor into a TARDIS with the appearance of a human? Plus what exactly happened to Jenny during Ashildr's childhood anyway? We'll find out the whole story along with a full explanation as to exactly how the Doctor's TARDIS managed to bring her back again in the next chapter.**


End file.
